Red String of Fate
by Rosebud0899
Summary: It's finally that time of the year where the red moon appears and all the villagers gather at the center and watch as the red strings of fate lead them to their soulmates. Lukas has been unable to search for his in six years since he's been taking care of his baby brother Emil, he hadn't planned on searching this year either until he noticed his soulmate was close.
1. Chapter 1

**Alright, so this is a story about Denmark and Norway, though human names are used.**

 **Lukas is Norway**

 **Emil is Iceland**

 **Mathias is Denmark**

 **Tino is Finland**

 **Berwald is Sweden**

 **Anyways about this story: Once a year a red moon appears and shines down a red light that allows the people of the village to see who their soulmates are by the red string of fate. Norway who had waited six years to finally search for his realizes his soulmate is in the forbidden forest what will happen when he meets a mystery man in the forest?**

It's midnight in a small town in the middle of Norway, not many people visit this place because of all the supernatural activity that goes on. Though outsiders fear it, the villagers and natives to the land accept it and celebrate it. They even have a festival every year on the same day, they celebrate all day and then it grows quiet at night as the people wait for the ceremony to begin. Now you may be wondering what this ceremony is, it's the ceremony of the red moon. Once a year the moon turns a bright blood red, and on this day the villagers who have turned eighteen are given the opportunity to finally find their soulmates. Though many do not find their soulmate because the leader of the village does not allow anyone to leave though for a good reason, surrounding the village is a forest this forest is filled with creatures that can kill you the instant they see you. No one can leave, especially not at night, and even more so during the ceremony it's forbidden. There have been some cases in which people have left the village in search for their soul mates because one detail I have not told you yet is, on night of the red moon the light reflects on to the people showing a red string on every person. You may find the other end in the village or deep in to the forest leaving the village. The string does not appear until you are the age of eighteen, it'll continue to show until you have finally made contact with your soulmate. Some find the string taunting, others find it a blessing because they are finally able to find their true loves. Everyone in the village jumps at the chance when they are finally able to find their true love, well almost everyone some people have other things to deal with rather than finding some stranger on the other end of a mysterious red string that no one really knows anything about or how it all started.

"Lukas, Lukas! It's almost time I can't be late will you hurry up!" I hear Emil running upstairs and pounding on my door.

I sigh looking down at my hand, it's bare for now but soon it'll have a thin red string attached, a string that I have yet to follow. "I'm coming, relax you'll have plenty of time. You have the whole night." I remind him as I place my dark blue winter cloak on.

"Yes I know but, I promised Leon I would meet up with him in the center of the town!" he shouts from the other side of the door.

I shook my head smiling slightly, it has been about seven years, since I had started raising my brother since our parents died. Sadly, it was the year before I turned eighteen, I am now twenty-three and taking care of my eighteen-year-old brother. Because of this I have yet to join in the ceremony and follow my red string, I still have no intention of following it because I feel he still needs me. I have been taking care of him even before our parents died though I at least had their help, now it's just us and I have grown a bit more protective of him. I don't want to see him find his soul mate to be honest, I rather he stays with me and stay my baby brother. I sigh once more and stepped towards the door.

though that would be selfish, wouldn't it? I thought to myself as I finally opened the door to see an excited Emil nearly bouncing in place as he glances nervously towards the stairs ready to head out. I nod and motioned him to head out so we could meet his friend in the center of the village, usually were everyone meets up for the ceremony. He grinned excitedly and quickly dashed down the stairs and out the door. I glare at the spot he was standing and wanted to scold him for once again running on the stairs though I didn't want to ruin this night for him. I place my hood over my head and proceeded down the stairs as well. I notice the front door was still open and letting in the cold air which annoyed me even more. He was really testing my patience tonight, wasn't he? Once I made it outside I shut the door louder than I intended. I watched as Emil continued jogging to the center of the village completely forgetting to wait for me like I had instructed him the day before. I was about to call for him when suddenly the dark blue hue of the night turned a dark red. I froze in my spot and stared at the crowd of people cheering rather loudly. I shut my eyes because the moon usually hurt my eyes in the beginning because that was when it was the brightest. Once a few minutes have passed and the cheering grew louder and more chaotic I opened my eyes and looked down at my hand. Once again, the red string was there and it was floating around as usual. I didn't bother to look in what direction it was heading I just went in search for my brother. I grew annoyed at the sight of all those red strings and looked around the crowd calling out for Emil.

I spotted his metallic blonde hair at the edge of the crowd and village, I started to worry wondering if maybe his soulmate wasn't in the village and he'd be upset. Though when I finally made it over to him after pushing through some people I noticed he was with Leon and they were grinning and talking though it didn't seem like their normal conversations. I looked down at their hands and noticed the red string on their fingers, they were connected. I let out a small laugh, I should have known it'd be him they always hung out together and were never apart for long. I frown a bit though realizing he'd probably want to be with him more often though now that they know their soulmates. That got me a bit depressed so I walk away leaving the two alone and pushed through the crowd again. I decided I'd probably head back home I have no need to be out here when I have no plans to go searching for any soulmates. I shook my head in disbelief still unable to believe that my brother still had found his soulmate and in the first half hour too. I sit down on the steps of our house and looked down at my hand, especially the red string wrapped around my pinky finger. I was kind of excited the first year I could go look though, I realized I couldn't not when I had Emil to take care of. I always imagined what it'd be like finding him or her, though all that was soon forgotten when I had to learn how to survive on my own and take care of a kid as well. I was sure with my luck as well, he or she would probably not be in the village and I'd never be able to see them anyways because I can't leave.

I look up at the sky, the bright red moon shining down on us it makes me angry to be honest. I clench my fist and glanced back at the thing red string floating, taunting me, as if begging me to follow it. It looked loose and was flowing in the wind meaning they were far away, they're always far away. I look back at the crowd seeing the happy faces and joyous laughter. I wanted that, though I didn't show it or even admit it I really wanted what those people have right now. I never said anything because I know Emil already blames himself for me not already finding my soulmate because I had to take care of him instead of going out. It's fine though, I never held it against him maybe I'll wait one more year then I'll go searching. I snapped out of my thoughts when suddenly, my string went straight and tugged on my finger. My eyes widen in surprise, they were close? Where they looking for me? I stood up unable to think clearly, what did they look like? Would they mind that I live with my baby brother, are they nice? All these questions popped in to my head and I was still unable to move. I was growing kind of excited and nervous at the save time, was I finally going to be able to meet them? All hope and excitement left me though when the string turned wavy again, my small smile turned in to a frown and I sat back down. Any positive emotions that were flowing inside me have gone and replaced with negative emotions.

They obviously didn't want to be with me if they had retreated without even bothering to continue looking. I look down at the snow and kicked some off my boot, I grew annoyed just thinking about it. At that moment though I decided I was done waiting, I was done sitting here doing nothing. I stood up again and looked around, I slowly look down at my hand then followed where the red string went. I felt my heart pounding as I slowly followed the trail. I felt my hands trembling as I thought about who they could be. With every step I take I hear the snow crunching under my boots, I look down at the line again and looked up I had walked a bit of distance away from my house I was heading towards the forest which made me feel horrible. All this time, and I still can't find them, I'll never be able to find them, I can't leave the village and the forest is off limits. I began arguing with myself trying to figure out what to do. They must be close the string had just went straight a few minutes ago so they couldn't have gone too far. I look back at the house, but I can't leave Emil, what If I never return? I shook my head and glared at the forest, He had Leon now. I know he'd take care of him If I can't. I took a deep breath and stepped closer to the creepy looking trees. I glanced around once I had entered the edge of the forest. It was very dark and I couldn't see a thing other than the red string path which was glowing rather brightly, bright enough I could follow it. I began moving deeper in the forest listening as the sounds of the villagers grew distant until I was unable to hear them anymore. I looked around as I followed the trail, I saw owls, trees with no leaves because of the weather, small animals scurrying around probably taking shelter from the cold. I saw the bright red moon shining down, though not bright enough in the woods where I could see. I could only trust the string to guide me safely through the forest.

I realized later on I probably should have brought a weapon or something in case of trouble, even with my magic it'd be no match against something much more powerful in strength if I cannot see it. I looked down at my hand when I felt a tug, the string had grown tight again they must be close! I began to walk quicker looking around more frequently in hopes I saw them. My eyes widen when I see a dark shadow though it quickly moved and my string moved with it, the sudden tug caused me to almost trip as I am forced to turn. I catch myself before falling and looked around some more, something didn't seem right and I had a terrible feeling. I was tugged around again as they moved once more. I could feel them getting closer as the string grew tighter.

"H-Hey, It'd be a lot easier for both of us if you just showed yourself you know…" I said loud enough hoping they'd hear me.

I was tugged once more this time a bit rougher and my hood of my cloak got caught on a branch and pulled down allowing the cold air to hit my face. I looked around now growing a bit anxious I notice my apparent soulmate was now behind me but with the hood stuck I couldn't really turn around, my arm was wrapped around me as my hand was being tugged in that direction.

"I could use a little help…" I mutter nervously glancing around my eyes darting back and forth trying to see someone, anyone but I couldn't look behind me.

I hear a twig snap then suddenly I was yanked back, the branch that had caught my hood snapped and hit me in the head then fell to the ground. I struggle against the persons grasp though soon realizing they were a lot stronger than I was. "Let go!" I shout kicking and swinging my arms trying to connect with them in hopes to get a decent hit in.

My eyes widen and I stop completely when they grab my neck and tilt my head back, "Enough, continue to struggle and I'll snap your neck like that branch by your feet." I hear a deep voice whisper in my ear causing me to tremble.

I remain still and looked around I still couldn't see him, he was hiding on purpose had he killed my soulmate? Was that why I was being tugged around, did he take them and kill them? I shut my eyes tightly waiting for him to finish me off too though he wasn't doing anything, he just held my neck and continued to stand there. It was silent until he spoke once more.

"Why are you here? Humans aren't allowed in these forests, it's forbidden." He growled, it didn't sound human at all meaning, he wasn't human either.

"I-…I was following the string, you know from the red moon?" I explain looking up at the moon which was setting.

The stranger grew silent, his grip on my neck loosened then he pushed me away. "Go back to your village, there is nothing here for you." I quickly turn to look at the stranger but he was standing in a dark shadow.

"But, there is! I was following the string and it lead me here I can't just leave without finding-" I was cut off when I saw red eyes glaring at me.

"I said there is nothing here for you, leave before I kill you!" I look down at my hand and noticed the string had disappeared, though the moon hadn't set and I never made contact with my….

"I'll leave…If you show me your face, I want to know what my soulmate looks like before I go." I said confidently stepping forward.

He just glared at me but finally he stepped forward as well and finally I could see his face. "Wh-Who are you?"


	2. Chapter 2

_**Hope you enjoy!**_

He scoffs and leans against the tree that was next to him, "Wouldn't the better question be, _what_ are you?" he asks obvious bitterness and annoyance in his voice.

"N-No, really who are you? Can I know your name, I mean I'm finally able to meet you but-" he once again cut me off.

"But, you're not human and you live in the forbidden forest." He said mockingly. "Was that what you were going to say?"

I glared at him, "No, you threatened to kill me and obviously don't want me here!" I cross my arms ignoring the cold feeling from the strong wind.

"You're right, I don't want you here. Now that you understand, leave!" he steps forward getting in my face.

I don't step back this time and stood my ground, "What if I refuse? You'll really kill me, if you don't recall the story of the red string you'll suffer a great punishment if you are to harm your other half."

He growls and lifts me up by my collar, I kick my feet struggling to get down as I grip his arm. "I've already suffered a punishment, there is not much more fate can do to punish me further."

I stare in to his eyes obvious darkness lurking inside them, anger, sadness, it's all right there practically written on his face. "So, you'll allow me to suffer too? Not being able to stay by your true love's side is the worst punishment you could inflict upon someone."

He throws me to the ground, "Well, then you'll just have to live with the pain like I do because I am not changing my mind. I have my reasons for what I do, so I suggest you just listen to me."

I stood up and dusted myself off, "What reason? What could possibly be a good enough reason you don't want me?"

He grabs my wrist and pulls me forward, "Not once did I say I didn't want you, I am doing this for your own good. This year I have decided to search for you and found you in the village by your house." His grip tightens and his glare grows more tense. "I have caused you to follow me, putting you in danger. Our kind is unable to be together, for us to be apart will be good for both of us."

I struggle to pull my wrist free though his grip is too tight, "Who are you to say what is and isn't good for me!"

He stays silent and stares at me, I stare back and began studying his face. When not, angry it seems, he has bright blue eyes, he's quite pale and his hair stands up spikey. His hair is also a bright blonde color, though he is frowning right now I can tell from some lines on his face he does in fact smile a lot. I can see by the look in his eyes he's studying my face as well, wonder what he thinks of me. I know what I think of him already, he is handsome, tall, in his own strange way he seems to care. By the look of his clothes he's a knight of some kind? Though we do not have any royals here, last time we did was centuries ago so he must have found them somewhere.

The silent staring contest was done when he spoke, "By the look of your clothes, you are someone important and in high ranks."

I nod, "I am a healer in the village, I have magic though I mostly use it for healing injured or sick. There are many others but I have stronger abilities than the rest."

He smirks, "I can also see you're religious?" he asks pointing at my barrette.

I place my free hand over it and glare at him, "It was given to me by my mother who was very religious though I do not follow in her beliefs."

He chuckled, "I'd hope not otherwise we'd have a problem." He states as he lets my wrist go.

"We'd have a problem? Because threatening to kill me and forcing me to leave isn't?" I ask him as I step back so he can't grab me again.

"I have already told you, it's for your own good, there are many creatures here that will not hesitate to kill you when they see you. Creatures that even I can't fight." He says once again as if that would change my mind.

"Well, I can handle myself I don't need you to protect me." He just scoffs and rolls his eyes which angered me.

"Yes, because you handled yourself so well against me." He said sarcastically then a second later he's gone and I feel hands behind me wrapping around my waist. "You're weak, no matter how much magic you have it won't be enough here."

I elbow him though it didn't seem to do much, "I can do enough to protect myself, I've survived this long with no one's held I can do it here." I hear him chuckle then felt him lean his head down.

"In this forest, you're either killed or you kill. I have killed more people than I can count I have nearly died myself by the hands of a creature so powerful everyone fears him." His grip on my waist tightens as he pulls me closer.

This whole grabbing thing of his was getting on my nerves, "So, that's only one guy…" I mutter as I look back at him.

He sighs, "A creature who will not hesitate to kill, no matter who or what is in his way. This forest is run by him, any human that enters never comes out because they are captured then killed by him." His voice grows dark as he speaks lower. "If you still don't understand, you'll be dead even with my help in three days or less if you're caught."

I shut my eyes as he whispers in my ear, "You're going to need to realize, I don't listen to others I do what I want. So, you're going to have to learn to deal with that because I am not leaving. Not until I know you'll allow me back or you'll visit me."

He sighs, I feel his head rest on my shoulder. "out of everyone in the world, why did my soulmate have to be so stubborn?" He looks up at me "Fine, I'll visit you but only once a week. Return here at the last day of every week but not this one because we've already had our visit."

I nod in agreement, "Fine, it's better than nothing I suppose. But before I leave can you tell me why it would have been bad if I was in fact religious?" I ask as he lets me go.

I turn to face him and once I did he grinned though it was kind of mischiefs, "Well, if you haven't figured it out yet…" He steps closer and I notice two fangs and I gasp.

"So, you're a vampire!" without thinking I grab his face and moved his head up and down, side to side, checking out the inside of his mouth until he growled and pushed me away.

"Learn to keep your hands to yourself." He mumbled as he rubbed his jaw.

"You're one to talk..." I huff looking away, I quickly noticed the sun was coming up he did as well then quickly backed up when a ray of sunlight shined down between the tree branches separating us.

"So you can't walk around during the day…" I mumble to myself, "Guess you'll be leaving now?" I ask slightly disappointed.

He nods and crossed his arms as he steps back once more keeping away from the light. "I'll see you again next week, at night though."

I nod then turned to head back home but quickly looked back, "Wait, what's your name-" he was gone.

I sigh and placed my hood back over my head, I couldn't feel my face it was so cold. I began walking back to the village and heard the sound of people once more. I quickly exit the forest so no one saw that I left then quickly make it back to my house. I stepped inside and saw Emil had already returned and he was smiling happily as he drank some warm milk. He looked over at me when he heard the door shut and grinned.

"Oh, Lukas you won't believe who my soulmate is!" he shouted as he got up and stood in front of me. "it's Leon!"

I smile and gave him a quick hug, "I'm glad you found him, I know you've been waiting forever to finally find your true love." As I spoke my voice slurred a bit because I felt like I was dazed, I had finally met my soulmate as well and not only have I met him I also found out he was a vampire!

Emil frowned staring at me, "Lukas you alright?" he as softly as he leads me to the table and gives me something warm to drink as well. "I mean…. I was first to get home and you were nowhere to be seen, plus you seem kind of funny."

"I'm fine Emil, I just… met someone last night." I say as I take a sip of my drink smiling a bit behind the cup.

Emil grinned, "You mean… someone as in your soulmate!?"

I look away, "Well, can you keep a secret?" I whisper as if someone was already listening in.

Emil leans in and nods, "Course, why what's going on?" he whispers back.

I sigh and look over at him smiling a little, "I left the village, I found him, he isn't just anyone either he's not human."

Emil frowned and leaned back in his chair. "Lukas… we aren't supposed to leave the village; the forest is forbidden." He said sounding worried.

I shook my head, "I know, but he's fine he didn't hurt me." I sigh, "Emil, I finally found my soulmate… please don't tell anyone, it'll just cause trouble and I may not be able to see him anymore."

Emil bites his bottom lip looking down feeling uncertain, I could tell. "But Lukas-"

"Emil, listen… For once in a long time, I'm happy. I finally found him I would have thought you'd be happy for me."

He sighs, "I am happy for you, I just… I'm worried, what if something happens?"

"Nothing will happen, he's strong and we're meeting up only once a week and right at the edge of the forest okay?" I inform him in hopes it'll calm him down, at least a little.

He sighs and smiles, "Alright, I'll go along with it but if something goes wrong I'm telling the village and you're done seeing him."

"Deal, but I won't be seeing him until next week anyways so you don't have to worry for a while." I sigh and got serious, "Now… for some actual serious matters."

He frowns, "What, is something wrong?" he asks getting up to put the cups in the sink.

I nod, "Yes, when Leon found out he was your soulmate you two spent the night together correct?" I ask walking over to him.

He nods and looks at me in confusion, "What about it?"

I glare at him, "Did he touch you, or try to do anything with you?" I ask in a motherly tone.

His face grew a bright red almost as red as the moon and he glared back at me. "Lukas, will you stop! I can't believe you asked me that!" He groans and stomps away, "I'm not talking to you for the rest of the day!" he shouts as I hear his door slam shut.

I sigh and sit back down at the table, "teenagers…" I mumble to myself then glanced out the window smiling a bit thinking about my soulmate who I still have no idea what his name is.


	3. Chapter 3

_**Okay, so… I'm trying to catch up on stories that I haven't finished yet while also doing this one. ^-^ So you'll be seeing a lot of updates since I am out of school for the summer I'll have a lot of time to get stuff done. Hope you enjoy!**_

"You sure you're going to be ok going out tonight?" Emil asks nervously as he helps me cook dinner.

I nod smiling a little, "I'll be fine, worst scenario he doesn't show up and I just head back home." I felt a little bad saying that though it was true.

"Lukas, I just don't want you getting hurt… Emotionally I mean. You know nothing about this guy and even though he's your soulmate he may not be good for you." Emil looks over at me after cutting up the vegetables.

"Emil, I told you multiple times now over the past week that I'll be fine, I'll be fine if he doesn't show up either I'll just go back to my life as if nothing happened." I explain to him as I put the vegetables in the pot and stirred.

"That's not a way to think, that's sad to think like that…" I watched as he washed the knife and cutting board.

"I've always thought like that, I just accept whatever happens and move on." I say softly as I look down at the food.

"Even about mom and dad?" he asks obvious hurt filled his voice.

"Emil…" I stop stirring the soup and looked over at him, "No, that's not what I mean… I still feel horrible about what happened to them and I wish it didn't but-"

He smiles sadly, "You can't change the past you just have to keep moving forward, Right?" he sighs, "That was dad's line huh? I remember him saying that often, you're a lot like him more than mom."

I nod and moved away from the stove and hugged him, "And you're just like mom, which I'm glad because I rather you be like her than our father." Though he was a good man he wasn't the best father, he'd yell a lot and would wake me and Emil up at night with all the fighting he did with mom.

He laughs a little, "You have the good parts of dad, thankfully." He looks down, "I miss them… Now that they're gone I don't want to lose you too."

I sigh, "You won't, I'll always be here for you." I run my hand through his hair smiling, "And no guy will get between us, you always come first."

He smiles a real one this time then points at the pot, "This is sweet and all but I'm really hungry…"

I roll my eyes and went back to preparing dinner, once we had sat down and finished eating we both went to our rooms for the night, he was heading to bed while I was getting ready to head out in to the forest to meet up with _him._

I quickly put on my dark blue winter cloak as I look out the window smiling, something I don't do often but I was excited to go out. It was finally time to see my mystery soulmate again, this time I'll get his name so I know what to call him. I grab my bag then leave my room, In the bag I have some stuff that may interest him. It's some healing elixirs that I've made in case he ends up hurt since I remember him telling me about how he's almost died before. I quickly walk down the stairs trying to be quiet though so I didn't wake up Emil. He knows I'm going out tonight but he still isn't too happy about it, he worries almost as much as I do. I open the front door and step outside, I put my hood over my head to block out the cold wind then I shut and locked the front door putting the key in my pocket. I make my way to the forest taking the same path I took last time when I was following the red string. The wind was stronger tonight than it was a week ago that my hood almost flew off my head. I placed my hand on top of it so that it wouldn't fly off, I make my way in to the forest where the trees blocked most of the wind so I wasn't as cold. I glance around trying to look for him, I had a few fears that he may not show up and this wall all for nothing though I also felt he is a man of his word and wouldn't lie. I sigh sitting down on a big rock and decided to wait for him to show. I looked through my bag checking to make sure I had everything inside which thankfully I did. I place the bag on the ground and rest my elbow on my leg placing my chin in my hand. I glance around the forest once more checking out my surroundings, it looked different when the red moon wasn't up. It was almost peaceful rather than scary, it was a dark blue sky instead of red which allowed the area to look more natural. I smile enjoying the view when I see a small chipmunk run over to me sitting by my feet, I lean down to get a better look.

"Hello there, I don't have any nuts so I don't know why you're coming over to me." I spoke softly to the creature as if it'd talk back.

I hear it do a small squeak then twitched its nose looking up at me, I frown realizing it didn't look like a normal chipmunk its eyes were wrong. It had bright white eyes literally his eyes were just white. It had no pupils or anything, it opens its mouth showing sharp fangs and it hisses. I jump back and stared at it in shock, this was not a normal animal. It stands on its back legs and lets out a loud scream, at least that's what it sounded like. I cover my ears and shut my eyes tightly, the sound was hurting my head I've never felt pain like this before and the animal won't stop either. I fall to my knees trying my best to block out the sound though it wasn't working, with no idea what to do I just shouted for it to stop.

My eyes widen when it suddenly grows quiet, had it worked? I slowly look up and realized the chipmunk was gone but was replaced with a pair of boots. I look up even more and noticed who it was, and he didn't look happy at all. His eyes were a bright red as he glares down at me or so I thought it was me until I noticed he was holding the chipmunk in his hand. I watched slightly interested in what he was going to do with it. He lets out a low growl and squeezes the small animal in the palm of his hand until I hear a loud cracking sound. He had killed it just by squeezing it! The lifeless body was tossed aside as if it were nothing but garbage. He kneels so he was face to face with me his eyes still red but not as bright as before.

"You alright?" he asks as he check me out making sure there was no injuries.

I nod trying to calm down since my heart was pounding, "What was that? I have never seen a chipmunk do that before."

He sighs standing back up but helping me up as well, "Because it wasn't a chipmunk, just another creature that lives in the forest. I told you humans aren't allowed here he was probably warning others you were here but thankfully he was a weak one so I doubt anyone had heard it unless they were nearby."

I look at him in disbelief, "That was weak? He nearly blew my head off with that scream of his."

He nods, "Humans can't handle it, you're lucky it was a weak one otherwise you'd probably be dead." He states as if it were a casual conversation.

I sigh and sat back down on the rock, "So, you came… I started having doubts that you'd show." I say softly as I look down at my hands.

He chuckled, "I am a man of my word, so do not think otherwise." He sits down next to me and looks at my bag.

"So, what's in there?" he asks, I notice the curious look on his face it amused me.

"Well, you probably don't need them but they're healing elixirs. I figured you may want them…" I look away blushing "I made them myself."

He didn't say anything but I saw he took the bag and opened it up, "Huh, you can't find anything like this in the forest. They're actually quite powerful…" he muttered to himself as if in deep thought.

"So, does that mean you like them? I mean… I can take them back if you want." I spoke softly growing kind of self-conscious.

He shook his head no, "I could sell these, I already have healing powers so I don't need them but they'll definitely sell for a lot of money."

I felt hurt, I made them for him to use not so he could sell them off for money. "Well, I was actually hoping you would use them…."

He looks up at me, "I already said I have healing powers so I have no use for these. They'll be more use to me if I could sell them."

I look away, "Fine, do what you want with them. Anyways, do you think you could tell me your name? Last time we spoke you never told me."

He sighs, "Mathias, and who are you?" he asks as he placed the bottles back in my bag then put the bag strap on his shoulder to carry it.

"Lukas, nice to finally have a name to call you. So how about you tell me more about this forest and maybe yourself as well." I look back at him.

"I won't tell you about myself but I will talk about the forest. It's a dangerous place, full of creatures and monsters. It's ruled by a man maned Ivan." He looks up at the sky as he spoke.

"Ivan is that creature you spoke of before, the one who almost killed you?" I ask and he nods.

"He has many people who do work for him, going off in to the forest killing people who either owe him or he just doesn't like." He sighs, "Sometimes if you're strong enough he'll just take you in and have you serve under him as one of his guards."

I quietly listen to him as he continues to speak, I felt like if I interrupted he'd never talk about this with me again. He looks down at the ground as he continues, "Ivan actually planned on taking his kingdom further and actually attacking the village you live in. Normally all things that live here would agree with him without question though with this all fought back not wanting to get involved with humans." He smiles though it looked like a pained one, "Last time creatures got involved with humans many died on both sides which is why we were sent to the forest while you live in the village."

I look down at our hands which are close to each other as they rest on the rock we're sitting on. I bite my lip and slowly move my hand closer until they touch but before I could do anything else he quickly moved his hand away. I sigh and looked down at my boots as I pick at my gloves, it grew quiet once he stopped talking. We weren't getting anywhere we weren't closer, we weren't doing anything normal people do when they find their soulmate. I glanced his way and noticed he was already looking at me, which made me nervous.

"You know, it'd be a lot easier for us if you opened up a bit… You seem distant." I spoke quietly and carefully not wanting to make him mad.

He scoffed and looked away, "You haven't told me much about yourself either, or have you not realized that?"

"Well, how about we make a deal. I tell you more about me if you tell me about yourself." I pull my hood off since it was getting in the way and it was harder to see.

He sighed, "If I told you about my life you'd never want to see me again, though I wouldn't mind since that means I know you're not wondering around the forest looking for me."

I glare at him feeling hurt he wouldn't care if I didn't want to see him again, "Do you even want me as your soulmate? I feel like I'm just a burden and you are just speaking to me as if it were a job."

He shrugged, "It kind of it because of what I have to go through to see you."

I stood up and continued glaring at him, "Well, if it's so much trouble why did you even come then!?" I shout growing mad and hurt.

He stood up as well and I hear his armor clank, "Because you asked me to, you're lucky I even decided to come I could be killed if anyone found out I'm talking to you."

I look away, "Fine, this can be your last visit. If it's so much trouble to get here I don't want to get you caught. "

"But that's not what you want is it? I can tell, it's written all over your face you want to keep seeing me." He steps closer his boots leaving footprints in the deep snow.

"I do, but obviously you don't. You barely look at me, your attitude is horrible plus you act as if you're not even interested. Why should I waste my time!?" I shout then put my hood back on and turned away from him. "I'm heading home, you can leave early I'm sure that must be great for you-ah!" I was yanked back and pressed against a hard object.

I look up and notice I was pressed against him and his armor, he was looking down at me his eyes slightly red meaning he was angry. "Your name is Lukas, you live with your little brother in a house near the forest on the outer parts of the village." I frown in confusion wonder what he was doing. "You practice magic and make healing elixirs, you don't seem to listen to anyone but your brother. You're stubborn, easily aggravated, and your soulmate is a vampire who doesn't deserve you…."

He finished the last part quietly then lets me go, "I have listened to you speak, I have actually sneaked out to the edge of the forest to look at you this past week. I complain to you in hopes you'll finally leave me for good but- when you were going to I didn't like it. Maybe because I'm selfish, but I want to keep seeing you even if it means I'm killed."

I stared at him in shock, "Is that why you acted so cold towards me, and will it stop now if I decide to stay with you?" I asked him.

He nods, I watch him step forward and grab both my hands in his. "Whatever you want, I'll make sure it's done."

"I just want to know more about you, I don't want anything I have all I need." I tell him as he pulls me closer.

"Alright, I'll tell you all you want to know I just hope you can see past it. I want you to know me as I am now, though I may seem cold to you I have done far worse to others." He looks down as if he were remembering something. "Far too worse…" he whispers.

"I won't leave you, I know what it's like to be alone or left behind and I won't do that to you. I promise." As I promised him that he looks up smiling, it was a genuine smile those are probably the smiles that caused those small lines on the corners of his mouth.

"Alright, as you know my name is Mathias. What you don't know is-" He frowns then lets my hands go and quickly backs away. I was confused as to why he did that until I realized the sun was coming up and had already started shining down.

"Mathias!" He can't leave now, I was finally going to know more about him, I can't wait another week!

He shook his head no, "…Show up tomorrow, I'll be here waiting for you then I'll tell you whatever you want to know."

I smile, "Alright, I will!" before I could utter the word goodbye he had ran off.

As before I make my way back to the village being as quiet and careful as possible so no one saw me. I couldn't wait to tell Emil about what had happened!


	4. Chapter 4

It was around ten at night, I was using the fire iron to fix the wood that was sticking out from the fire place. Normally I place the wood inside but I allowed Emil to do it this time, seems I should continue doing it myself from now on. Once I had finished I looked behind me feeling like someone was watching though it could be true since Emil was in bed already. I shook my head and sighed, it was probably just me being paranoid. I'm unable to make it to my little nightly meeting with Mathias tonight, someone in the village said they spotted a creature exiting the forest so now the whole place is on guard. It'd be too risky to go out tonight, I just hope Mathias will understand. I'll try seeing him at the end of the week like we originally planned to do. I sit down at the table, I decided to have a drink tonight since normally I don't drink because of Emil. I look around the house, it was quiet the only noise you could hear was the crackling in the fireplace. I shut my eyes and rest my head on the table, I felt horrible I couldn't make it to meet up with Mathias but there was nothing I could do. He'd either get caught or I would, I'm sure he'll get it when I tell him what had happened. I wonder what he was going to tell me tonight, maybe he really is a knight and he protects the creatures in the forest from that guy he was talking about before? He could also be a villain too though, he didn't seem phased when he killed that chipmunk yesterday. I frown thinking about him as a villain, that couldn't be right he doesn't seem like someone who'd hurt others unless it was for a good reason.

I was about to doze off with all the thoughts of Mathias and who he could be running through my head when suddenly I hear a high-pitched screech coming from outside. I jump up and accidentally knocked over my drink, I ignored it though and quickly ran outside. I followed where I believe the sound came from and it seems it came from in front of someone's house. I notice a few people had already shown up and were crowding around the area, I pushed my way through since it sounded like someone was in pain and that was my job to help them. Just as I thought I see a woman face down in the snow with four large claw marks down her back, it had ripped through the top of her dress which was now in shreds. This was no normal animal that did this, I have seen animal attacks but nothing like this. I kneel and started my healing spell, I watched as the marks began to disappear and were now just red lines. I removed my winter cloak and placed it on her as I helped her up. Obviously since her dress was shredded she needed something to cover up with. She looks back at me tears sliding down her face, she thanked me and explained what had happened.

"I-I was just picking up something for my kids to eat for breakfast tomorrow, just a quick trip… Then suddenly I see these red glowing eyes next thing I know I felt a horrible pain going down my back and I was face down in the snow. I didn't see who-… what it was, I'm sorry." Her voice cracked and she started crying again.

I sigh and helped her stand, "It's alright, I'll have someone take you home I want you to get some rest by tomorrow morning I'll make sure someone also had brought you something for your family to eat as well."

She smiles wiping her eyes, "Th-thank you so much." I nod to her and then grabbed Gilberts arm and brought him over to her.

"Take her home, I also want you to bring her and her kids something to eat for tomorrow." I order him.

He nods and agreed then lead the lady to her house, I look back at the crowd and told them to go back home, it was dangerous to be out tonight. Once I had cleared the crowd I head back home, I didn't want Emil alone tonight not with that creature running around. I wrap my arms around myself trying to ignore the cold wind that was blowing since I had given my cloak to the woman I had nothing to protect me from it. I shiver as I step inside the house, I sigh in relief seeing the warm fire I walk towards it but suddenly I was pushed against the wall. I gasp and try to push who ever or whatever had pinned me down off me, I glanced at the stairs in hopes Emil was alright. The person moves their hand down to my throat and I hear him chuckle. I could feel him lean forward, his moth right by my ear as he whispers to me.

"You should learn to lock your door when you go out, someone may just come in uninvited." My eyes widen, I recognized the voice.

"Mathias!?" He laughs letting me go and I quickly turn around to face him but I was shocked at what I saw.

His armor was off, he had scratches all over his body, his clothes were shredded just like that woman's, plus he was in my house! "I didn't mean to scare you too much, you alright?"

I stepped back, "Why are you here!? You could get caught- wait…" I glare at him as I step back once more. "Are you the creature the whole village is worried about, the one who attacked that woman?"

He frowns and steps forward, "No, actually that's why I came here. When I noticed you weren't coming I grew concerned." He sighs and leans against the wall next to me when he realized I was still on guard. "So, I checked out the area and realized that chipmunk yesterday had in fact summoned another creature."

I frown in confusion, "You said it didn't though."

He shrugged, "That's what I thought, turns out I was wrong. Anyways, after I realized what was going on I noticed the creature leave the woods and that's when he attacked that woman you spoke of." He smirks and glanced at me, "She'd be dead if I hadn't stepped in, I got the guy off her and dragged him back to the forest which I then killed him."

I checked him out and noticed how torn his clothes really were, they were exactly like the lady's clothes. "You weren't hurt too bad, were you?" I ask now feeling bad for accusing him of the attack.

He shook his head no, "I'm fine, I told you I can heal. I put my armor down in your room by the way I couldn't wear it while my wounds healed."

I sigh, "That's fine, it's nice to see you without it on for once."

He shook his head, "No, I'm vulnerable without it on. I prefer to keep it on but with my wounds it'd be stupid because it'd just slow me down and the healing process."

I look over at him, "Why do you have that armor?"

He crossed his arms and looked away, there was a dark look on his face and I didn't like it. "It's a long story, I'll save it for tomorrow you should probably get some sleep and I'll head out."

I frown and grabbed his arm, "Don't leave! I mean… you can't leave tonight, too many villagers out looking for a creature. They've never seen you around before so they'll assume you're one."

He smirks, "But I am one, I'll be fine I got in I can get out."

I look down blushing, "Just stay, please?" I whisper feeling kind of pathetic for begging.

He sighs, "If I stay tonight I can't leave until tomorrow night."

I look up at him once more, "I know, I'm sorry… you're right you should probably go."

He smiled a little, "Listen, I'm sure one night wouldn't kill me…" though I saw something in his eyes that said otherwise. Almost as if he was hiding something.

"You sure, No one will notice you're missing or anything?" I ask him as I let his arm go.

He chuckled and rubbed the back of his neck, "Well, someone will notice but I'm sure I can talk my way out of it. I mean… it is just one night, right?"

I nod, "Yeah, just once. I won't ask again, I just worry someone may see you tonight."

"Alright, I'll stay but where am I going to sleep?" he asks looking around.

I laugh awkwardly and glanced at the stairs, "In my room? It's the only place I could think of, the living room gets too much sunlight during the day so the couch is out of the question."

He shrugs, "Alright, I sleep naked though that a problem?" He asks smirking as he starts walking up the stairs.

I stare at him in shock as I quickly followed him, "Hold on, y-you can't just-" he quickly turned around and covered my mouth.

"I was joking, relax." He whispers, "You'll wake your brother up." He grabs my hand and leads me up the rest of the steps then to my room.

I opened the door and stepped inside, "Um, we'll have to share the bed though I'm sure you already guessed that." I look to the side and noticed his armor neatly piled in the corner of my room, out of the way.

He nods and walked past me and plopped down on the bed, "Comfy, haven't slept in a decent bed for a while."

I stared at him in slight disgust, "You're not going to keep those bloody, torn clothes on, are you?"

He looks down at himself as if he just realized he was still wearing them. "Oh, well… I don't really have any other clothes."

I bite my bottom lip and walk to my closet, "One second I think I can find something." I kneel and looked at this old chest I had. I took out the key for it and unlocked it, revealing clothes that were a few sizes bigger than my own. "These were my fathers, I'm sure they'd fit you perfectly fine." I turn around and handed him a large brown shirt and some tan pants.

He gets out of bed and grabs the clothes, without any thought he took his shirt off and began changing right in front of me. I quickly looked away and busied myself with locking up the chest again. Even once the chest was locked I still didn't look behind me in case he was still getting ready, I waited for the sound of him moving or the bed creaking to indicate it was okay to look again. I shut my eyes when I felt two arms wrap around my waist, he really likes to cling to people or maybe just me. I leaned back a little so my head was against his chest, I could practically feel him smiling.

"You going to wear that to bed, or are you going to change too?" he whispers in my ear, I could feel his hot breath on my skin.

I lightly pushed him away and stood up, "I'm going to change, just give me a minute." I went in to my closet and grabbed some more comfortable clothes to wear then head in to the bathroom. There was no way I was changing in front of him.

It only took me a few minutes to change but I wasn't ready to go back out yet, I began to wonder who Mathias really was, what was he like as a person? Did he act different when I'm not around, or is he always like this? So many questions, and he keeps pushing them aside as if he's trying to wait as long as he can before telling me. Though he's said multiple times he'd tell me, when the time finally comes he sets it for a new time. Could he just be lying to me, and this is all an act? I shook my head, growing annoyed with myself. I must stop thinking like this, he'll tell me when he's ready. Forcing him won't do either of us any good. I stepped out of the bathroom and went back in to my room, I would have thought he'd be sleeping but he was wide awake and staring out the window.

"Hey, shouldn't you get some sleep too?" I asked as I shut my door and locked it. I didn't want Emil barging in and seeing him.

He chuckled and looked back at me, "I don't sleep, well not much anyways… I don't need sleep it's more of a treat I guess you could call it." He shrugged and leaned back stretching a bit. "but I know you do, so you should get to bed."

I frown sitting down next to him, "So I'm just going to sleep while you wonder around my room? I thought the reason you asked where do I sleep was because you were actually going to."

He laughs and shook his head, "No, it was more on the lines of I was thinking where am I going to stay? I figured it would have been strange if I told you about this but guess I have no choice now."

I roll my eyes, "You think I'd find that strange? First off, on the night of the red moon I find out you're a vampire, you threatened to kill me, you snuck in to my house, you have some mysterious vibe to you plus I know almost nothing about you!" I sigh and placed my head on my pillow as I lie down. "But yes, I find you being unable to sleep strange." I mumble sarcastically.

He smiles as he looks down at me, "I guess that's true, mysterious vibe though what's that all about?"

I turn on to my side so I wasn't facing him, "It's nothing, probably just there because you always have this strange look on your face when I ask you questions."

I couldn't tell what his expression was now though I'm sure he wasn't too happy about what I said. I shut my eyes and tried to relax, it was hard though since I could feel him staring at me. I feel the bed shifting and his hand running through my hair, he stops at my Barret that I forgot to take out. I feel him remove it himself, then placed it on the side table. I try to fall asleep but I really was failing miserably, I'm sure anyone would have a hard time sleeping with a vampire watching them, even if they were supposed to be your soulmate. I grew tense when I heard him start to speak, though from what he was saying and how he was talking I think he thought I was asleep.

"I want to tell you all about me, but I can't. I'm hoping I can keep pushing all your questions back a bit longer, just a bit longer that's all… I need more time." He sighs and moves again this time I could feel him right next to me. "I've done some bad things, work for some bad people, I can't tell you now not when he'd be able to get you." I could hear a low growl come from him, "If you know about what I do, he could read it from your mind and know what I'm doing and that you exist. When he knows that, he'll kill you."

My eyes open wide and my heart started pounding, dead? Who does he work for that would be so dangerous!? I think he noticed the change in my body because he stopped talking and moved once more, I quickly shut my eyes again but I could feel him right in front of me. I thought he had caught me and it'd be over but he did something else, something I didn't expect at all. Just as I thought he was going to get angry and possibly leave, I felt him lean in closer and once he did that I felt a warm feeling on my lips but it went away just as quickly as he came. He had kissed me! On accident, I let a small smile slip, I hear him chuckle then I felt him pull me I wanted to open my eyes and tell him I was awake and maybe kiss him again but a part of me didn't want to. He didn't seem on guard, he was being super gentle though this position was strange to fall asleep in I didn't mind. I was on his lap resting my head on his shoulder, I had moved a little so I could be more comfortable as he held me. He was leaning back so we were kind of laying down but not fully, it was nice.

Hours had passed, I managed to fall asleep a few minutes after that whole incident with Mathias. It was now eight in the morning, though I had only gotten maybe five hours of sleep at most I still felt well rested. I was woken up by Emil pounding on my door wondering when I was getting up so we could have breakfast. I quickly sat up and looked around, when I didn't feel anyone in bed with me. I noticed my window was open and it was slightly cold in my room because of it. I saw Mathias's armor was gone, and so was he meaning he had left later that night when I had fallen asleep. I frown and got out of bed, I was kind of annoyed that he left even though he said he'd stay but it quickly went away when I remembered what happened last night. Even though he thought I was asleep when he did it, he still kissed me. I was about to get changed when I noticed a small paper on my side table, I picked it up and unfolded it. The hand writing was slightly messy but I could read it, Mathias had left me a note.

I read it out loud but quietly so Emil didn't hear me, "Sorry I had to go, something came up and if I had stayed the night you would have been in danger. I'll make it up to you and if possible, I will stay with you tonight and I promise the whole night." I set the paper down and smiled a little but felt slightly anxious was that danger he was talking about those people he worked for?

I shook my head trying to forget all those dark thoughts, he wouldn't let anything bad happen to me. That's why he's doing what he's doing, so that I don't get hurt. I step out of my room after shutting my window and went downstairs, I saw Emil attempting to make some eggs Key word attempting. I run in to the kitchen when I noticed the pan was catching on fire because the eggs were burning. I quickly take the pan off the stove and cool it with water, I glare at Emil and sighed.

"This is why you can't move out yet, how did you burn eggs so badly?" I shout as I leave the pan in the water.

He shrugged and smiled sheepishly, "Uh… it was an accident?"

I stared at him in disbelief, "You're hopeless, I worry more for Leon than you when you move out."

He pouts and crossed his arms, "That's not funny, I can learn how to cook!"

I shook my head, "No, someone who burns eggs that badly have no chance at learning. I should go warn Leon now before it's too late."

"You're such a jerk sometimes!" he shouts and stomps out of the house, "You aren't telling him anything!"

I flinch when I hear the door slam, I look down at the eggs that were practically charcoal now and sighed. "I don't think I'm hungry anymore…"

 ** _Alright, hope you enjoyed that chapter. ^-^_** **** ** _Sneak peek in to the next one, Lukas will ask more about Mathias and this time he can't avoid it. Comment if you'd like, I would like to know if you guys like the story or I'd appreciate if you could tell me if I need to work on some stuff. I want to make it better so you enjoy it more._**


	5. Chapter 5

I thought today was going to be relaxing, the guards of the village informed everyone the creature was gone, no one was injured today, it all seemed fine that is until this happened. I hear the door slam open and saw Emil looked panicked. He runs over to me and gripped my shoulders tightly, I frown in confusion and worry. Was something wrong, was he okay? He kneels and whines, I then realized it wasn't too serious.

"Lukas, I need your help. I messed up and can't fix it!" he whines some more but looked up at me.

I sigh, "What'd you do this time?" I ask as I help him up and dusted off his clothes.

"Well, after I stormed off I went to see Leon and he was actually making breakfast when I saw him so I ate with him. We talked and he said he'd love it if he could try my food one day." I watched as he looks down and sighed, "So I told him, sure you can come over tonight and I'll make dinner…" he mumbled miserably.

I shook my head, "Told you, no hope in cooking." I look up at him and smirk, "I'll help, if you call me big brother like you did when you were younger."

He glares at me, his cheeks turning a bright pink. "Not happening!"

I shrug, "just say, big brother I need your help with cooking dinner tonight." I look at my cup on the table casually tapping my fingers on the chair.

"Lukas, please just help me!" he whines and swatted at my hand so I'd stop tapping.

"Big brother, I need help cooking dinner tonight." I repeated smiling a little when I saw how annoyed he was getting.

"Dang it…Big brother, I need help with cooking dinner tonight." He muttered angrily and crossed his arms looking away.

I laugh and ruffled his hair, "Alright, see that wasn't so hard, was it?" he huffed and just walked away.

"He likes beef so I was thinking of making something that includes that." He walks back over to me holding a few papers in his hands. "These are mom's recipes I found up in the attic, we could try one of these."

I nod and picked one up, "Alright, I think we can do this. What time is he coming over?"

He thinks for a moment and set down the other recipes, "I believe around eight or nine, he gets done with work late."

I nod and glanced at the recipe once more then set it on the counter, "We'll have to go to the market for some stuff, we need potatoes, carrots, garlic…" I continue to list off ingredients since we have most of them I only need pick up about four things.

Emil smiles, "Thanks, I don't want him thinking I'm a terrible cook."

"Even though you are." I say without thinking, it was a force of habit I don't think before I speak.

He glares at me, "Shut up! Oh, by the way this lady gave me this… why'd she have your cloak?" He walks in to the living room and take sit out of his bag then hands it to me.

"I gave it to her to borrow, she was attacked by something that came out of the forest last night." I look down at my cloak and noticed she had washed it.

He frowns, "Something from the forest? That's never happened before." I nod in agreement.

"Don't worry though, it's taken care of. Now let's go get the rest of the stuff we need to make dinner. I'll make sure to stay in my room tonight when he comes over so you two can be alone." I put on my cloak and watched as Emil did the same.

"Alright, but that whole creature thing has nothing to do with…Mathias, does it?" he asks as he glanced in my direction.

I looked away and put my bag on my shoulder, "He killed it, that's all he did." I said quietly then opened the front door letting Emil walk out first.

"You sure, seems kind of skeptical he managed to show up at a perfect time to kill the creature." He muttered as he walked past me.

I glare at him, "He didn't do it if that's what you're thinking. I know him-" I stopped because, I really didn't know him, I didn't know anything about him.

"Fine, whatever you say. I trust you, if you trust him he must be alright." He walks ahead of me as I shut and lock the door.

I walk faster so I could catch up to him, we made our way to the market an awkward silence between us. This always happens after we speak about Mathias, I can tell Emil doesn't approve of him yet. I look around the market and grabbed what we needed, I put the last thing in my bag and paid for it saying a quick thank you and goodbye to the old man then met back up with Emil. He was looking at the apples, I took a few and paid for those as well since I knew Emil wanted some. We were heading out since we were done shopping when we heard a scream.

"Monster!" there was a pause as if everyone in the village froze until we all saw the creature. It looked like a wolf.

I grabbed Emil's hand and started running, my first thought was to get him somewhere safe I didn't know where but I had to find a place. I ignore the screaming from behind us as I continued to run I hear Emil calling my name telling me to slow down but I couldn't that'd cause trouble if the creature caught up. I felt him let my hand go but I soon realized he had tripped, I quickly turn to grab him but I looked up and saw the creature right above us he was glaring down at me. I froze, I saw the white foam dripping from his mouth as he growled. It had red eyes and very sharp teeth and claws, I raise my hand though I was shaking and aimed at the beast. I was about to mutter a spell but the creature moved quick, it pushed me back by swinging its tail. I fell in the snow a few feet away from Emil and the creature, I noticed it look right down at Emil and snap at him but didn't bite. Emil screams and scoots back trying to get away, I quickly sat up and ran back over to them. The creature saw me and before I knew it, he picked Emil up with its mouth and ran off.

"No…No, no, no!" I scream as I tried to follow it but someone pulled me back so I couldn't enter the forest. "Let me go!" I shout struggling to get out of their grip.

"The forest is forbidden, your brother is gone, I'm sorry." I ignore the man and continued to struggle.

A few more people held me back and dragged me away from the forest, I didn't stop fighting back though. "I said let me go!" I shout and scream.

I was brought to Yao the village leader, he kneels and faced me as I glared at him. "Tell them to let me go!" I shout at him.

He sighs, "I can't Lukas, you'll go running off in to the forest. I know you." He frowns, "I hate to do this but we'll have to contain you until you've calmed down."

"What!? Dammit just let me go, I need to get my brother!" I managed to shove one of the men back but he quickly returned and held on tighter.

They drag me to a building, it only had one window it's normally used for teenage brats who don't want to follow the rules and are put here for punishment but apparently now it's used to hold me. Once they put me in I tried to run out but they quickly stopped me. They shut and locked the door, I pound my fist against it and kicked the door doing as much as I could in hopes it'd break. No luck. After an hour or two I gave up and sat in a corner hugging my knees to my chest, I kept having flashbacks of watching my brother get taken by that stupid dog. I wanted to cry, I haven't cried since our parents died I swore I'd never cry again after that so I could be strong for Emil. But now he's gone. I hide my face between my legs and felt a few tears fall down my face, how could this have happened? A creature has never attacked in broad daylight, they've never attacked the village to begin with! It didn't start until I met Mathias, he probably knows what's going on, though he'd never tell me. I don't know how long I've been in this stupid building but I'm getting tired of it.

I believe another hour or two had passed when someone finally opened the door, it was Yao. He walked over to me and placed his hand on my shoulder, "I'm sorry for your loss, I really am… we have to move on though."

I glare at him and pushed his hand away, "You wouldn't be saying that if Leon was taken instead." I stood up and walked past him. "I'm going home, no need for your damn body guards."

I pushed my way past them and started heading home, I ignored the looks I was getting from everyone and just continued walking. I made it home and slammed the door shut, I threw my bag on to the floor ignoring all the stuff that fell out. I push a chair out of my way, it fell and made a loud noise as it hit the floor. I see the recipe me and him were going to use to make dinner tonight and crumbled it up, I glared at the fire burning in the fireplace and threw it in there. I watched as it began to turn to ash and sat on the floor I glanced to the right and saw an apple right next to me. I swat it away and watched as it rolled I noticed it hit a shoe but I didn't own shoes like those nor did Emil. I look up and saw the person I wanted to see the least tonight.

"Why are you here, unless you have Emil I don't want to see anyone right now" I look away from him and glared at the fire again.

I hear him walk, his footsteps are heavy and loud. I hear a small thump and noticed he had kneeled beside me, "I'm sorry, I heard what happened and wish I could have done something." He whispers and reached towards me to grab my hand.

I push him away and glared at him, "You know what's going on don't you!? And because you didn't tell me Emil's now gone and-and who knows what's happened to him." I shout ignoring the pained look on his face.

"He's probably being held hostage, or he's-" I grab a potato I saw on the floor and threw it at him, he easily caught it though.

"Don't you dare say it!" I look down and clenched my fists, "None of this has happened before until I met you, are you the one doing all this, sending all the monsters here!?"

"No, I already told you it's not me." He put the potato down and moved closer.

I moved back once he did and glared at him, "You haven't told me anything, you don't answer my questions… I heard you talking last night and that's the most I've gotten out of you since we've met!"

His eyes widen, "I didn't mean for you to hear that I-I do want to tell you but-" I quickly cut him off.

"Then tell me, tell me what's going on because my baby brother was taken by some dog and I know you know why!" I push him again, "So tell me!" I continue to shout.

He sighs and looks down, "Lukas, I can't it'll put you in danger."

"I don't care anymore, I just want Emil back! I-It's your fault he's gone now I know it is your part of it somehow!" I hear my voice crack; my eyes are getting teary.

He looks down that dark look showing again but I didn't care this time, "it happened a long time ago, possibly fifty or more years…" I grew quiet as I listened to him speak.

 _There was a battle between the creatures and humans, at the time I wasn't one of them. I was a knight, I protected the royal family we looked like we were winning, our future was bright. That didn't last long, one night as we planned our final attack a creature with great power had invaded. He took down all waves of men, he destroyed our weapons, killed without mercy, I was the last knight standing as I stood in front of the royal family. I wasn't going to give up, I was going to protect them no matter the cost…if only I knew at the time the cost would be greater than I could ever imagine._

 _As I was face to face with the man who had destroyed all our hope in just an hour he smiled, he had explained to me his name was Ivan and he was quite amused with me. He found me interesting, though when I refused to join him he grew mad. He raised his hand towards the sky aiming directly at the moon, he had muttered words that I could not understand it must have been some ancient language. Once he had finished I watched as the moon turned red, as red as blood. He looked back at me and smirked, I saw he was staring at my hand and noticed something. I didn't know at the time what was so amusing but I saw everyone else had a red string attached to them, everyone but me._

 _"_ _I have seen the future, this spell I have cast will be your punishment. While everyone is finding their true love you will be alone, until the day your love is born and once that day happens." I watched as his eyes glow red and fangs appeared in his mouth. "I'll kill them."_

 _All it took was for me to blink once and I saw he had killed the royal family, I tried to fight him it took all I had just to land one hit but it wasn't enough. Obviously, he had over powered me and won, as though he felt as if it were his right he kneeled in front of me and before I knew it I felt a burning pain in my neck. I knew at that moment he had bitten me, I didn't know what was going to happen after that though. I thought I was going to die, I forgot he had mentioned I'd be waiting for someone it didn't matter to me. I had woken up a few days later in the same spot where it all happened the moon was its normal color once more but I had also noticed a large blanket above me blocking out any light. I was confused, I was questioning why he had left me alive…a few hours later I realized why. When I made contact with the sunlight I was burning, it left a scar one I still have to this day._

 _I grew mad, lost all other feelings and emotions I wanted revenge, I didn't care about anything else he had said to me all I cared about was he had made me a monster. I had searched all over for him, it took me months to finally find him and when I did it didn't go how I expected it to. He refused to kill me, he said he had other plans for me. Though I continued to try and assassinate him he just laughed it off until finally he fought back. He nearly killed me, I was on the verge of death when he pulled my hair lifting me up so we were face to face. He whispered something to me, words I'd never forget._

 _"_ _This pain you're feeling, will be nothing compared to how you'll feel when you watch me kill the one you love." He smirked when he looked up at the moon and saw it was red again. "This red moon, it will show me when your soulmate is alive on their eighteenth birthday. You will work for me until then and when the day finally comes, it'll all end."_

 _I told him I'd never go looking for you, that way he'd never find him. I told him it'd be impossible for him to find someone if he has no idea where to look and who to look for. He just laughed in my face telling me I'd look for you eventually…and he was right._

 _Since then I've been working for him all these years, killing whoever he asked me to, tormenting innocents, making enemies. All just so I could busy myself and ignore the temptation to look for you._

I had listened to his story and was in complete shock, so he was the bad guy but not by choice. "Why look for me now then, why didn't you continue to stay away?"

He smiled as he looked down, "Because, I've been alone all these years watching my back, always on guard, I wanted to see you just once and maybe I'd feel less alone." He forced a laugh and looked away from me, "Now your brother is in danger possibly dead, and it's my fault. Your scent was blocked because of your cloak I can smell it… your brother on the other hand has your sent on him that's why the dog chose him and not you."

I frown, "So it's me he wants, take me to him. If he has me, he might let my brother go." Mathias frowned and shook his head.

"Highly doubtful, it'd just be a waste of time and possibly get both of you killed." He looked over at me then stood up. "I can't put you in danger like that."

I glare at him, "I don't care, I want him back and if it means me getting killed so be it." I sigh and look away, "If you cared for me, you'll let me do this because I care about him more than anything... I can't let him die."

The silence was almost suffocating, I hear him get up his armor making a few noises but that was it. "Fine, we leave tomorrow night then, the sun is coming up so I won't be able to go anywhere."

I stood up as well, "Fine, you can go in my room again. I'll sleep in Emil's." I looked over at him and noticed he was staring out the window. "What's wrong?"

"I thought I saw someone, must be seeing things." He muttered then started walking up the stairs. "I'll see you tomorrow night then, I know you probably want to stay away from me as much as possible now."

I look down, "Just for now, I don't want to see anyone so it's not just you. Losing someone you care about is hard, and when you're told to just move on and get over it, that makes it worse." I follow him up the stairs.

He looked back and me his eyes slightly red, "Who said that to you?"

I huff and walked past him, "None of your business it's fine, I don't listen to what he says anyways." I spoke quietly, I didn't have the energy to speak any louder.

He just sighs, "Fine, I won't push it I'll see you tomorrow night then." I nod and went up the rest of the steps and straight to Emil's room.

Once I was in there I shut and locked the door, his room was a mess. I didn't care though, I wouldn't care if he ran up the stairs, I wouldn't care if he forgot to shut the front door, I wouldn't care if he burnt some eggs again I just want him back. I took off my cloak and hung it up, I climbed in bed and listened to the sounds outside. I had some small hope I'd hear Emil talking or something so I'd know where he was, some part of me just wants to believe this was just a nightmare and he'll come running in and yelling at me for being in his room. That didn't happen though, and I doubt it will any time soon or worse scenario it won't happen ever again. I shut my eyes and tried to stop thinking about all that, the quicker I get to sleep the sooner I can start looking for him.

 ** _I feel like this one could have been better, I just couldn't figure out how. Anyways, all that writing in italics was Mathias telling the story of his past. I felt it'd be even more confusing if I continued with how they were talking so I just made the whole memory in italics so it's easier to read. Sorry if that confused you. Tell me how you liked the background on him, there is a bit more to come. I'm sure you'd all like to know more about Ivan and what else Mathias has done._**

 ** _Hope you enjoyed this and thank you for reading!_**


	6. Chapter 6

**_A/N: Thank you for all who've favorited this story! ^-^ I'm glad you like it so much. I have a lot planned for this story and hope you continue to enjoy it as it goes further on._**

 ** _Alright, I'll stop wasting your time with this :D Hope you enjoy this chapter!_**

"Lukas, honey I need you to go get your brother. Make sure you both wash up before dinner too, alright?" I look over and smiled when I heard her voice, a voice I haven't heard in a long time.

"Yes, mother. What are we having for dinner?" I ask as I put my shoes on so I could go get Emil who was playing outside in the front yard while father was pulling out some weeds.

She smiles as she takes her apron off, "Stew, I didn't have time to go to the market today so I just had to work with what we had. Hope that's alright." We weren't the richest family in the village but we got by, and that was good enough for me.

"Course, I love your cooking no matter what it is." I put my cloak on and opened the door.

I step outside and looked over to where I saw our father pulling weeds out, he looked tired. "Dinner is ready, I'm going to go get Emil." I told him, he just nods his head and doesn't bother to look up.

I sigh and started walking around searching for him, he was supposed to be in the front yard but I didn't see him anywhere. I walk behind the house, since he wasn't in the front maybe he was in the backyard I thought as I looked around some more. Still no sign of him, I was beginning to worry and I know if I didn't come back in soon mother would start to worry as well. I move farther away from the house since maybe Emil just wondered off like he usually does, or possibly he was just hiding out as he hung out with Leon. Those two were always getting in to trouble together so it was likely they just wandered too far and are now just looking around.

I decide it was probably best I call for him, maybe he'll hear me and come looking. "Emil!" I shout cupping my hands near my mouth so it'd make my voice louder. "Emil, dinner time. Leon has to go home now!" I shout some more but still heard nothing.

I look behind me when I hear footsteps, it was mom. "Lukas, what's with all the shouting and where's your brother?"

"I don't know, you said he was in the front yard but I didn't see him." Mother didn't look too happy about that.

"Keep looking, I'll get your father and we'll search near the woods." Before I could say anything, she runs off to get our dad.

I continue calling for him but he still didn't answer, "Emil, this isn't funny just come out now!" I shout once more. I was going to shout again but I notice a pair of bright yellow eyes staring at me from the woods.

I grow quiet, what was that? "Lukas! Lukas help me!" I quickly turn to see Emil screaming as he runs towards me.

"Emil, What's wrong!?" I start running towards him but I didn't get anywhere near him because I saw that wolf from before. "You again!?" Just like before it snapped at Emil but this time instead of running off with him he bit him! "Emil!"

I watch in horror as the creature was holding my brother in his mouth, blood dripping from the sides as Emil stared at me his eyes widened in pain and terror. The wolf starts shaking his head as if Emil was a toy, after that Emil goes still and limp. I shut my eyes and grip my hair tightly I didn't want to see this, not again! I hear the wolf walking away and back in to the forest. Once the creature was gone I run back to the house to tell mom and dad but when I got inside I saw them laying on the floor in a pool of blood just like when I first found them when they died the first time.

"M-mom…dad…" Their eyes just like Emil's were wide open, the pot of stew was tipped over and all over the floor. The whole room was a mess, someone had broken in and killed them!

I hear a loud bang from upstairs, they must still be here! I grab a knife from the counter then ran upstairs to confront the killer. I take slow quiet steps down the hall as I listen for any more sounds that may show where they could be hiding. I hear another loud bang, I quickly make my way to my parent's room where I see a man in old armor, I've seen that armor before. I drop the knife at the sight I saw.

"Lukas… I didn't mean to I'm sorry!" Mathias turns to face me his mouth covered in blood, he killed them.

"G-get away from me, get out!" another loud bang but he wasn't moving so where was it coming from?

"Lukas-" Another one.

"I said get out!" and again, and again, the banging won't stop. "I hate you!"

 _Bang!_

I gasp quickly sitting up, I look around trying to remember where I was. I take a deep breath and wiped my eyes getting rid of the tears. It was just a nightmare, I was okay. I climb out of bed, but as I get dressed I hear that banging again but shouting along with it this time.

"Lukas, show yourself! We know you're hiding a creature in there!" My eyes widen in shock what did they just say!?

I look out my window and saw a mob, they didn't look very happy. "There he is!" a man shouts pointing towards my window.

I watch as they grow more frantic and start pounding on the door even harder, until finally they broke through. "Get him, Yao wants him alive!"

I look around trying to find a way to hide or escape but saw no way out of it, I hear heavy footsteps then someone barged in. "By order of Yao, you're sentenced to death for keeping a dangerous creature in your house and possibly the cause of all the other attacks as well."

"Wha-" Before I could speak they grabbed me and pinned me against the wall. I feel them tying my wrists together with rope then pulled me back. "W-wait, this is all a mistake. I'm not responsible for any of that!" I shout as I struggle to get out of there grip.

"Liar, you're a traitor to the village and that's punishable by death!" He roughly pushed me out of the room then lead me down the stairs purposely pushing me on the last step so I'd fall. I look up and saw a bunch of angry people staring down at me.

"I'm telling you I didn't do it-Agh!" Someone managed to kick me in the side, I was pulled back up to my feet by my hair and pushed out of the house.

Where was Mathias? Had they caught him, was this why I was being blamed for all this? They bring me to the center of the village and brought me to my knees so I was kneeling. I hear a crowd cheering, screaming out different punishments to kill me.

"Hang him!" One-woman shouts.

"Lock him up until he's dies of old age!" A man shouts as well.

"No, send him to the forest he's obviously friendly with the creatures in there!" One more man shouts.

I look around as the crowd grows closer, "But I didn't do anything!" I scream trying to be louder than them since so many are shouting it was hard to try and prove my innocence.

"Be quiet all of you!" everyone stopped shouting when they see Yao walking past them, "Now we don't know for sure if he's the one who caused the attacks so stop acting so barbaric." He steps in front of me and looks down, I didn't like the expression on his face.

"Yao, I didn't do it. I don't even know what's going on!" I struggle against the ropes wanting to be released.

He sighs and kneels in front of me, "You're being charged with many things, some villagers said you were first to run when the wolf creature came leading suspicion to think you knew about it." He shrugs, "Though that isn't enough to kill you, what got everyone angry was, Leon saw you with a mysterious man last night. Again, nothing serious until he said his eyes lit up red and he had fangs."

"Wh-what!? But Leon wasn't…." my eyes widen as I remember what Mathias had said last night.

 _"_ _I thought I saw someone"_

Oh no, Yao just nods and stood up. "Your reaction says it all, it's proven you are in fact keeping a creature in your house which has endangered the town and possibly causing the other attacks as well." He shouts over the crowd. "And punishment for that is death, you will be tied to a wooden post and burnt."

"No, yao… come on, I'd never- I wouldn't put anyone here in danger, not on purpose!" I shout struggling against the ropes again.

He looks away, "I'm sorry, you broke the rules and must be punished for it." He whispers. "Take him away." He orders two men who walk over to me and pulled me up.

I struggle trying to get free of their grip but they were too strong, they drag me to a wooden post with a few logs surrounding it. The crowd follows us as they begin to tie me to the post, one of them smirks as they look up at me. "This is what you get for being a traitor."

I feel my body tremble in fear as I see one guy walking over to me with a lit torch, "N-no stop!" I squirm around trying to get free but it wasn't working. My eyes water as I watch him throw the torch on to the logs, the fire begins to grow and I started to feel the heat. "No!" I scream as I continue to struggle.

I hear the crowd cheering, they shout ordering the man to add more fire though he ignored them he just sat back and watched me struggling against the ropes in amusement. I feel the fire's heat at my waist I could feel it starting to burn. I shut my eyes and a few tears fell down my face, I'm scared, I don't want to die. Mathias, where are you? Help me!

My eyes open wide as I hear people suddenly screaming, it wasn't their normal screams they feared something. I look around past the fire and saw someone with my cloak on, I saw a glimpse of metal under the cloak and knew who it was right away. He knocks out the men who were around the post then I felt the rope being cut and I fell almost landing right in the fire but he caught me. I cling to him but he pushed me off.

"No time for that, we got to get you out of here!" he pulls me away from the large crowd and starts running towards the forest. "I'm not going to stop running until we get to a place with enough cover, so keep up."

I cover my face when we make It in to the forest, I feel branches hitting me all over and a few twigs snapping in my face I nearly tripped over a rock but he pulled me up so I didn't fall. The shouting of the villagers grew quiet, until we couldn't hear them anymore. I look up at the sky and noticed it was still bright out, It wouldn't get dark for another few hours. He continued pulling me deeper in to the forest until finally we make it to this small cave. He lets my hand go but motions me to stay there.

"Don't move, and stay quiet. I'm going to see if it's safe." He whispers then slowly made his way to the cave.

I stood there still trying to recover from what just happened, they actually tried to kill me and without a second thought either! I look down at my clothes and noticed they were in fact burnt but still wearable, if it wasn't for Mathias I'd probably be dead. I cover my face with my hands as I continue to look down, I almost died after all I've done for the village, all the people I've healed they'd be willing to kill me without hesitation? I felt sick, I felt betrayed, I felt….alone.

"Hey!" I feel someone move my hands away from my face, I look up and saw Mathias. He moves his hand up towards me and wipes under my eyes. I notice his glove was wet, was I crying?

I bring a shaking hand up to my cheek and noticed they were wet, "I-I…"

He sighs and held me close, "I know, you're alright now though so don't worry." He leads me in to the cave then continues to comfort me. "I'm here, no one is going to hurt you ever again." He whispers as he sits down and pulls me on to his lap.

I hide my face and let the tears fall freely down my face, what was I going to do now? Even after I save Emil I can't go back to the village, neither can he! Sure, I wanted to be with Mathias but not like this, I didn't want to be almost murdered and have him save me just so we could escape. I have no future, no hope, no brother, I don't have anything anymore! No, I have him… I have Mathias, I'll have Emil soon too I just have to stop crying and be strong for him again. I wipe my eyes getting rid of all the tears, I was still shaking a little but I could deal with it.

"You alright?" I hear him whisper to me as he takes the hood off his head.

I nod and looked away, "I'm fine, you won't see me like that again so don't worry."

He sighs, "It's alright to show emotion, it's what humans do, it's natural." He tells me though it doesn't help.

"I don't care, what I do care about is getting my brother back. So once the sun goes down we start looking." I said as I get off his lap and sat down next to him instead.

He sighs, "It won't be easy, Ivan moves around a lot. We won't find him for a while, it even takes me a long time to find him."

I glare at him, "Then how are we supposed to find him!?"

He shrugs, "Look. He was in the east last week, he'll probably be in the west this week, if not we keep searching until we do find him." He frowns as he looks down, "We'll need help though if we are really going to fight him."

"who'd help us, I thought you said everyone feared him." He looks over at me and smirks.

"That's true but I also said a lot hate him as well. I know two guys who hate him just as much as I do." He leans back against the cave wall, "We'll go get them tonight, we'll be traveling back to the old castle where they live."

"They live in the castle where the royal family used to live? Why do they live there?" I ask watching as he closed his eyes and smiled.

"Safest place in the forest, most monsters avoid it because of its history, others avoid it because they believe it's bad luck to even go near it. Meaning, when we get there we'll be safe for a little while." He wraps his arm around me and pulls me closer, "I can get a weapon, you can get some sleep, we get two allies."

"Will this even work, even with help from others?" I ask leaning against him.

He goes silent, until finally he spoke after a few minutes. "I don't know, he's been ruling longer than I can remember he won't be easy to take down. But if it means keeping you safe I'm willing to risk it all."

I look away and it was silent for a while, neither of us spoke but he continued to hold me close. It was a comfortable silence one I didn't mind, it was better than when he'd get mad at me and the silence was almost unbearable. I glanced his way a few times, he still had his eyes closed was he asleep? I lean closer trying to check if he was actually asleep, by the looks of it he was. Without thinking I leaned closer and shut my eyes, I didn't realize what I was doing until I finally did it. I smile a little as I press my lips against his and kissed him. It was nice, though it'd be better if we could actually kiss without one of us sleeping or pretending to sleep. I pulled back and blushed as I quickly looked away, I can't believe I did that! I could tell without even looking in a mirror my face was red, I could feel the heat all around. I decided to stay up and watch over both of us while he slept, he must feel comfortable around me enough so that he feels safe enough to sleep it feels nice knowing he trusts me.

I gasp when I was suddenly pulled towards him, he was staring down at me holding on to my arm tightly. "S-so you weren't sleeping?" I ask looking away.

He chuckles, "I told you I don't sleep, if you wanted to kiss you should have just said so." He leans forward and just like before he pressed his lips to mine and we kiss.

I blush as I begin to kiss back, it didn't last long though I'm sure he just didn't want to push me too far after all that's happened. He did start kissing down my neck though, I could feel his breath on my skin his breathing was strange. I was about to say something when he pulled back and looked down at his boots.

"Before we start heading to the castle I need to eat, I don't want to end up hurting you on accident." He muttered softly not bothering to even look at me anymore.

I frown wondering what just happened, he was strange sometimes. One minute he'd be willing to hold me close and kiss me, next he's distant and doesn't even bother looking my way. "Alright."

Hours passed as we continue to sit in the cave, Mathias still seemed distant I even noticed his eyes glowing red sometimes. Once the sun finally set and it was nothing but darkness all around us he stood up and walked out of the cave. "I'll be back in a hour, don't leave this cave and if you hear or see anything just call out my name."

Just like he always does, before I can say anything he just runs off. I sit in the dark quietly listening, I was growing nervous since it was so quiet and anything could happen at any time. I hugged my knees to my chest as I looked around, though I couldn't see much since there was no light at all even the moon wasn't shining brightly because it was behind the clouds. I stayed quiet as I sat there waiting for him to return, I didn't know if I'd be able to stay here for an hour though. I stood up and started pacing back and forth, I didn't like it here I miss my house at least when I was there I knew I was safe. I take some deep breaths as I try to relax, getting worked up wasn't going to do me any good. I turn around away from the cave entrance and started walking back again. I hear a twig snap, I froze and stood completely still.

I relax though when I hear his voice, "I found a camp site not too far from here, just a few minutes away. They had food you'd be able to eat as well so I brought you some." He tosses me an apple, I noticed he had a bag over his shoulder.

"That all food in there?" I ask after I took a bite from the apple.

He nods, "For you, I've already eaten so I won't need to eat for another few days but I know you'll need to eat a lot more than I do." He leans against a wall and looks outside the cave. "Finish up, we'll start heading to the castle once you're done."

I nod and continued eating, "So, what'd I do wrong this time?" I ask as I look down at my half eaten apple.

He looks over at me, "What are you talking about?" I watch as he pulls out a small bottle of clear liquid. He tosses it to me, I open it and realized it was water.

"You're not looking at me again, normally when you do that you're mad at me or something is wrong." I explain as I take a few sips of the water.

He crossed his arms and looked away again, "Nothing's wrong, just hurry up and finish. It's dangerous wandering around the forest at night without anything to protect yourself." He looks over at me his eyes slightly red. "And since I have to protect you and myself this time it's even more dangerous."

I glare at him but finished up the apple quickly, "Sorry I'm so much trouble, maybe you should have just left me on the post." I toss the apple core on to the floor and pushed my way past him.

"Why are you getting so worked up now? All I said was the truth." He follows me after putting the water bottle back in the bag.

"Because, any time you speak about having to help me or take me somewhere with you, your eyes turn red meaning you're annoyed." I move a branch out of my way and ignored him when he cursed under his breath when it hit him in the face. "So, obviously I'm going to get mad because you seem to hate it when I'm involved with anything you do."

"Well, course I do. I never wanted to have you living in these woods!" He sighs and held a branch back for me when it was too big for me to move. "I'm not annoyed that you have to be with me, I'm annoyed because when you're with me you're in danger."

"I can handle myself, I don't need you protecting me all the time." I inform him but he didn't seem convinced at all.

"Sure, I've saved you more than I have anyone else these past few weeks I've known you." I ignore him and continued walking.

"Fine, from now on don't help me I'll figure out how to work through it on my own. Then you won't have to be so annoyed with me all the time." I step over a branch and almost tripped. I glare at him when I hear him snort as he tried to hold back his laughter.

"Alright, we'll see how well that goes then." He crossed his arms as he walks beside me, "I won't help you either, until you say I'm right and you do need my help."

"That won't happen, so you can keep that to yourself." I take my cloak back from him when I realized how cold it was getting. "You'll realize soon enough I'm tougher than you think."

He just shrugs and walks in front of me, "Whatever you say."

I fight the urge to throw a rock at him, I have a feeling this whole adventure is going to just cause me problems especially if I'm going to be with him the whole time.


	7. Chapter 7

**_A/N: woops this one was long, seems like they're just getting longer each time._**

 ** _Thank you all who are reading, hope you enjoy this chapter! ^-^_**

It's been two days, we have been walking down this dirt path non-stop for hours now and I was beginning to get tired. The only time we rest is when the sun comes up because it's too risky for Mathias to go out during that time, but because of the sudden change in schedule I am exhausted. He offered to carry me but I refused, the smirk on his face was showing he was waiting for me to ask plus he knew once I did he was right and I couldn't last in this forest alone or without him. I still wanted to prove I could do this but I was really reaching my limits right now, I look down at my half-eaten apple which I so badly wanted to finish but I was just too tired to eat. I sigh once he stopped walking and looked around, quickly I leaned against a tree and shut my eyes thankful for this small break. I hear him walking again but I knew he wasn't going further down the path, he was walking over to me. Once he stopped right in front of me I open my eyes and look up at him, he looked concerned yet amused.

I cross my arms and glare at him, "What?" I ask realizing how bitter I sounded.

He chuckles, "My offer still stands, I can carry you if you stop being so stubborn." He offers me his hand but I refuse to take it.

"I'm fine, I don't need your help. How close are we until we get to the castle?" I ask shutting my eyes once more.

He wraps his arms around me but I ignore him, I knew it wouldn't last long and he'd start to become distant again. "A few more hours, if we start walking now we may make it before sunrise. You'll be able to get some sleep and eat more than just apples."

I feel him rest his head on my shoulder, his breathing became weird again. It seems to happen any time he's in that same area, I don't understand why though but this was around the time he'd start to become distant again. "Alright, should we start walking then?"

He steps back and nods, "I'm going to go eat first then we can." He told me he doesn't eat much but since we've started walking these past two days, he's eaten more than me.

I sigh and leaned against the tree again, "Alright, make it quick." He nods and runs off somewhere, I never know where he goes but it doesn't take him long to eat.

I sat there for a while waiting for him to come back, as I wait I glance around wondering where we were exactly. It was taking him longer than usual to eat which was making me worry, wondering if he may have gotten in some trouble and was now hurt, or possibly he could have been killed. I shook my head at the thought of that, no way he'd be dead he's too strong. I sigh standing up, I decided to just start walking around and follow the dirt path we've been using. I'm sure he'd find me with my scent anyways so it's no big deal, I start walking down the path once more as I look around cautiously. Without Mathias around I was in more danger than usual, I knew I was weak but I didn't want to tell him that. He already feels like I'm just here slowing him down, don't need to confirm it. As I make my way further down the dirt path I notice sounds I haven't noticed before, probably because I was too busy watching Mathias. I hear birds chirping, they're probably not real birds though and are just something like that chipmunk I encountered last time.

I didn't like thinking about that, I start walking faster maybe I'll make it to the castle before he gets back then it'll show him I don't always need him around me. I look up at the sky, most of it was covered by trees but other than that it was almost foggy right now because of clouds. It's been snowing all day today and it was getting colder at night to the point my cloak isn't doing anything to block it out. I shiver as I wrap the cloak around me some more trying to cover my face a little. As I go deeper in to the forest I notice the dirt path started to disappear which wasn't good for me because I don't know where to go now I sigh and decided to stop where I was and wait for him here. He'll probably be mad at me for walking ahead and not waiting for him like I'm supposed to do. I sit down by a tree and took out another apple from my bag, I was getting tired of them but It was the only thing I had to eat. Besides I've been walking for a while and I was getting hungry, I took out a bottle of water as well and took a few sips of that. Just as I was about to take a bite of my apple a gloved hand suddenly grabbed my wrist and made me drop it. I look up thinking it was going to be Mathias but I was wrong, very wrong. My eyes widen seeing this man, he looked terrifying! He glares down at me through his glasses, he didn't say anything either he just stared at me.

"U-uh…Hello, who are you?" I ask trying to pull my hand away but he wasn't letting go.

He didn't say anything, he just grunted and yanked me up. I gasp at the sudden movement and tried to keep my balance as I was pulled up on to my feet. His grip on my wrist tightens to a point it was almost painful, he drags me down another path ignoring my shouts to let me go. Was this guy dangerous? Where was he taking me and why wasn't he saying anything!? I look around nervously wondering where we were going, Mathias was definitely going to be mad at me when he finds me. I notice the deeper we go the more trees start to spread out, there was an opening that was beginning to show and I saw beyond that opening a huge castle! This must be it, where Mathias was trying to take me. Why was this guy bringing me here? I don't understand what's going on but as long as he doesn't try anything I guess it's alright for now.

As we make it to the front gate of the castle I see a smaller male smiling, he clasped his hands together as he looks in our direction. He quickly walks over to us and hugs the taller one, I notice they both have blonde hair and blue eyes. They look so similar yet different, one is taller the other is small, one looks terrifying the other looks friendly. The smaller of the two pulls away from the taller and smiles at me I was going to say something but he did before I could.

"Hello, sorry for the scare Berwald can be somewhat…. intimidating." he laughs and grabs my hands. "I'm Tino, nice to meet you. Mathias told us about you and from what he described in appearance I'm hoping you're Lukas, right?"

I nod and stepped back so he'd let my hands go, "I am, but who exactly are you? How do you know Mathias?"

He giggled and motioned me to follow him, he leads me in to the castle which I hesitantly stepped inside. "If you look, we've known Mathias longer than anyone in this forest well…. Other than Ivan." The way he said Ivan sounded bitter it sounded almost strange coming from this happy blonde.

I look around and saw paintings, some of the royal family and then others of their knights. One that caught my eye was the one Mathias was in, he was bowing down to king along with two others. The two others were the ones who were showing me around the castle, so it was true they did know him longer. This was when he was human, I can tell because he seemed happy in the picture happier than how he is now. I continue to look at the picture slightly amazed I was seeing him as a human this time instead of as a vampire, though I don't mind him the way he is now it's still interesting to see him before he was changed. He had the same armor on he does now, the only difference I see is he's holding an axe but I've never seen him with an axe before. I hear Tino chuckle causing me to look over at him, he was smiling at me it was almost calming the way he looked. It was obviously a lot better than Berwald over there who was standing there staring at us.

"What are you laughing at?" I ask crossing my arms.

He shook his head, "Nothing, you just looked really interested in that picture. I can tell you've noticed how much he's changed even if you never saw him as a human." He sighs and makes me follow him again. "These years have been hard on him, he blames himself for allowing Ivan to take over the forest."

I frown as I listen, I didn't understand how it could be his fault he tried all he could to stop him. "But it's not, he tried to stop him, didn't he?"

Tino nods, "He did, but it wasn't enough and that's why he blames himself. He believes he wasn't strong enough and when he woke up as a vampire…." He stops and looks down, "The poor guy wouldn't come out of the castle for years, once he finally decided to show himself he went straight to searching for Ivan for revenge."

He smiles sadly as he looks back at me, "He used to smile all the time, you'd never find him frowning or anything he always had this big grin on his face it was amazing how he could always be so happy. Once Ivan changed him, that smile went away I haven't seen him smile for years that is until you showed up."

My eyes widen staring at him in disbelief, "You sure? He's always glaring at me or getting mad plus he's so distant it's not even funny anymore."

He laughs, "Yes, I'm sure. One day he finally came back here not too long ago and he was grinning like a child who's found some candy. Once we caught up he had told me about you, that he finally went searching for you and he was finally happy he had something to care about again."

"Again, was the royal family that important to him?" I ask as we walk up some stairs.

He looks over his shoulder and frowns, "You don't know? He was engaged to the princess."

"W-what?" I gasp, I felt my chest grow tight I didn't like the thought of him loving someone else though I won't admit it.

He nods, "They were very close, the king allowed them to get married but before they could Ivan as you know killed everyone. Ivan has a sick sense of humor so once he did that he cast the spell using the red moon so that anyone could find their soulmate. Of course, he had told Mathias once he found his soulmate once more, he'd kill them too then finally allow him to die."

I notice him clench his fists as he continues walking, "But why would he do that?" I ask trying to keep up with him.

"Because Ivan is a cruel man, he tortures his victims before killing them whether it's physical, mental or emotional. Mathias has suffered the most out of anyone and the whole forest knows it which is why for the most part they stay out of his way in case of the chance they face his wrath." I didn't like what I was hearing, Mathias being feared just as much as Ivan and how much he's changed.

"Well, enough about all this depressing past. He told me you like to read, I figured you'd love to check out the library." He opens a door and allows me to walk by.

My eyes widen in amazement as I look around, there were hundreds maybe thousands of books! "I've never seen so many books before…"

He laughs and steps inside the room as well, "Figured you'd like it, it seems he knows you well yet you barely know him."

I look back at him, "I know, he doesn't tell me much. He's been acting weird lately as well."

He frowns tilting his head, "weird, how?"

"Well, any time we get close he starts acting strange. His breathing will become quick and he moves to around my shoulder or neck area then quickly pull away." As I explain what he's been doing lately Tino had a look on his face that I felt could only mean trouble.

He grins covering his mouth with his hand as if he was amused, "Poor guy, he's trying to stop it."

I look at him feeling confused, "Stop what?"

"Well, you see…. There is a thing vampire's do when they find their lover. Around a month of being together the vampire starts to crave his lover in more ways than one." He winks at me and I knew what he meant.

I blush looking away, "S-so what he wants to… you know..." I look down unable to finish the sentence.

He laughs, "He could do that, or he could drink from you. You see, drinking from your significant other is quite a pleasurable act if done right. It could be pleasurable or just to become closer, siblings do it, parents and children, friends… depending on the relationship they either just drink the blood to become closer or they infuse a type of poison I guess you could call it…"

I step back and glare at him, "Poison?"

He laughs, "Well, the fangs produce two poisons. One deadly or can change you from human to vampire. The other one is more, pleasurable." He sits down on a chair and smiles. "I don't know how it'd work on a human but for another vampire it's quite an amazing experience."

"I don't understand-" Before I could ask any more about it I hear a door slam open. I quickly turn and was now facing an angry vampire. "Mathias!"

He makes his way over to me his eyes bright red and glowing, "What the hell were you thinking just walking off without me!? You could have gotten killed!" He grabs my wrist yanking me towards him so I was face to face with him.

"W-well, you were taking a long time and I figured it'd be fine as long as I just follow the dirt path." He didn't seem to care.

"This forest is dangerous, I told you already you're not strong enough to go walking around on your own. I don't care how stubborn you are, you're weak, you're just going to cause trouble if you don't start listening to me!" I glare at him as I yank my hand free, I don't care how worried he was he doesn't have the right to speak to me like that.

"You do not speak to me that way, I don't care who or what you are! I'm sure you didn't speak to the princess that way did you!?" His eyes widen as he steps back his eyes quickly going back to their blue color.

I push him aside and ran past him, I didn't want to be near him right now. I look around and went down a hallway where I saw a bunch of doors, I open one and saw a bedroom where I decided to stay. I shut and locked the door then sat down on the bed, I hug my knees to my chest and looked around. I could hear voices echoing around the castle, someone was yelling and another was talking normally. The one yelling was probably Mathias, he tends to yell a lot. I decided to just listen, not like I have anything better to do.

"Why would you tell him about her!? Do you have any idea what you've done, you don't know how he is!" He shouts then I hear a loud crash.

"Calm down, he seemed happy to know more about you. Apparently, you're not telling him anything, he has a right to know who you are."

"Yeah, if I tell him not you! If I want him knowing it's on my terms not him finding out by some guy he just met." Now there was a loud bang.

"Will you stop breaking things? Your anger is getting out of control, he's even told me about that too."

"I don't care! Dammit, what else did you tell him!?" it got silent for a few minutes then I hear a door slam.

I hear footsteps, they sounded like they were getting closer. I hear them make it to the front of the door then stop, I was ready to shout at whoever it was to leave me alone but I didn't have to since they started walking away. I sigh in relief and shut my eyes, I lay down and realized just how comfortable this bed was. I haven't slept that much these past two days and It was finally catching up with me, I felt myself drifting off to sleep. I pull a blanket over myself and listened to the sounds around me, after a while I managed to finally fall asleep.

I look around, it was foggy so I couldn't see much. I tried to walk around but I couldn't move. I squint my eyes when I saw to figures a few feet away from me. I soon recognized one of them, it was Mathias! I tried calling for him but I couldn't speak, nothing came out. He was with someone, but who? I noticed the person was wearing a dress, it looked fancy and expensive. I frown in confusion when I watched Mathias step closer to the girl. I try calling him again but like before no sound came out. I watched as he leans down since she was a bit shorter than him, their faces get closer and my eyes widen and began to tear up when I saw them kiss. What was he doing!? He's my soulmate so why is he kissing that girl? I watch him kneel in front of her and he bowed his head so he was looking at the ground. Wait was that the princess!? I just when I hear his voice echo loudly around the foggy room.

"I love you" His voice sounded like a whisper but I could hear him clearly.

I struggle but managed to lift my hand up to try and reach for him, I try to call out his name one last time but again it didn't work.

"I love you…" Once again, he said it and it echoed, I didn't like this I want to wake up if this is a dream I want it to end.

Why her, why can't you say that to me!? I want to be closer to you, I want you to look at me the way you are looking at her. I want you to think of me as your soulmate instead of just a problem you have to deal with. I want you to love me. I fall to my knees as I watched them walking away, the more I try to reach for him the farther away he gets. I don't want him to leave me, I want him to stay I don't want to be alone anymore. I watch as everything begins to glow and turn completely white until I couldn't see anything. I shut my eyes and covered my ears not wanting to hear his voice echoing around me anymore.

I gasp quickly sitting up, I look around trying to remember where I was then I sigh realizing I was ok. I lay back down and shut my eyes, I go to rub my eyes to get rid of the last bit of sleep in them but when I touched them I noticed my face was wet. I groan in annoyance, I've been crying too much lately and I didn't like it. I use the blanket to wipe away the tears then got out of bed. I look out the window and noticed the sun was setting, how long was I asleep? I notice my cloak was off and hanging up on the door, someone must have come in to check on me. I rub my eyes trying to wake up a bit more as I walk over to the door to grab my cloak. It was cold in the castle, I take it off the hook and put it on as I quickly tie the string together to keep it on. I open the door and walked out of the room, I noticed it was quiet. I walk down the hall and made my way to the library, the only room I really know. I look around at all the books and smiled a little, I decided to grab one and read it to pass the time because I'm sure all three of the others are busy. I sit down at a table once I grabbed a book and started to read, it was about two ugly, cruel step sisters and step mother who were mean to their other sister/daughter. One day the girl who was named Cinderella decided she was going to the ball and had help from a fairy god mother so she could make it on time. I chuckle at that part, it was so unrealistic, magic can't do all that.

I continued reading, I suppose it was an interesting book since they did end up happy together wish it was that way for me. I sigh setting the book down, I look around again there was still no sign of anyone in the castle other than me. I realized though, the sun was still up so they probably won't be walking around until it fully sets. I decide to wander around some more to pass the time until I must face Mathias again, I didn't want to but I knew he'd start a fight again. I wondered in to a huge room with a queen-sized bed in it, I see a picture of a beautiful woman on the wall. She had blonde hair and green eyes, her smile was amazing she looked really nice. She was wearing a pale-yellow dress bringing out her green eyes even more. I looked down at a vanity dresser, I opened one of the drawers and saw a dusty painting inside. It was Mathias with the girl, I look up at the picture once more and realized this must be the princess. I put the painting back in the drawer and shut it, I turn around to leave but I stopped when I saw Mathias right behind me.

"You shouldn't be in here, I never wanted you to see this room." He grabs my hand to pull me out but I pull away.

"Enough dragging me around, why didn't you tell me about her?" I ask putting my hands down to my side so he wouldn't grab them.

He glares at me, "Because it's none of your business, still is none of your business and Tino had no right to tell you about it."

"Well, I'm glad he did at least I can finally know something about you since you don't tell me anything!" I shout, he didn't seem to like that though.

His eyes glow red as he lets out a low growl, "I don't have to tell you anything, like I said it's none of your business."

"But I want to know, I-I want to know more about you!" I look away, "If we're supposed to be soulmates I should have the right to at least know a little bit about you."

"You don't need to know anything about me, I never asked you to be my soulmate nor have I ever wanted one!" He looks down clenching his fists, "You'll just get in my way, I already lost her I can't lose someone else."

"Then why did you bring me here with you!? If you just left me at the entrance of the forest you wouldn't have to deal with me and I'd just be on my own!" I step back looking over my shoulder and looked at the picture, "I'm sure you wouldn't have mind if you were with her though…"

He grows quiet and stops growling, I slowly look back at him he looked hurt. I didn't care though I had to know, this has been bothering me since Tino told me. "D-do you still love her, is that why you're always yelling or staying away from me?" I ask mentally scolding myself when I heard my voice crack. "Because if that's how it is, I'll leave right now. I'll go find my brother on my own so you won't have to see me again."

He wouldn't look up at me, I see his fists clenching even more his knuckles turning white. I think that just answered my question for me, I nod then walked past him ignoring the suffocation feeling in the room. I shut my eyes taking deep breaths trying to calm down, I didn't want to break down right now I'll wait until I'm away from the castle to do that. As I open the door to step out I hear him call out my name, I turn around and looked back at him.

"Don't go, I want you here I really do. I shouldn't have said all that to you, I just don't want what happened to her happen to you." He walks over to me and wraps his arms around my waist.

He holds on to me tightly as he pulled me closer, he shut the door with his foot and pinned me to the wall so I couldn't move. I feel his mouth moving down to my neck, he whispers against the skin. "Tino told me he explained why I was acting the way I was, said he told you how my venom works."

I gasp feeling two sharp points on my neck and instinctively pulled back, he smiled glancing up at me not moving from the spot. "S-sorry, j-just didn't expect that." I whisper.

He chuckles and pulled me closer again, "If it's alright with you, once I'm done I'll tell you all you want to know. This time I promise I won't leave anything out. As long as you're okay with all this."

I shiver feeling his hot breath on my skin, his fangs poking lightly ready to break skin. "What exactly happens… a-and will it hurt?" I grip his shoulders tightly growing slightly nervous.

He sighs, "It won't hurt but since you're human I don't really know what will happen, you may react differently than a vampire would." He confessed and it made me even more nervous.

I shut my eyes and hid my face behind his right shoulder, I bent my head a little so he still had access to my neck. "A-alright, I trust you." If this is what it takes to become closer to him then I'm willing to do it.

He waited a minute then finally I felt two fangs pierce my skin, my eyes widen when I feel a warm feeling traveling throughout my whole body. I feel him starting to suck some of my blood as well, it felt strange but oddly nice. I felt his chest pressed against mine as he moves closer and digs his fangs deeper in to my neck. "M-Mathias!"

He hummed and I felt the vibrations around the area his mouth was at, I let out a small whimper not wanting to make any other noise other than that. I feel him smirk then I felt more of that warm feeling throughout my body again, it made my legs tremble and my heart race. What was this? I felt dizzy but not in a bad way, my head felt like it was spinning but the room was still. I could feel a drop of blood sliding down my neck, but before it could go far I felt his tongue lick it up. Every little touch felt like a volt of electricity coursing through my body, I never felt anything like this before. I feel him pull away slightly and move to my ear.

"I never did this with her, so this is something only me and you have together." I look over at him my eyes grew teary, I wasn't upset but the feeling in my body was causing me to act strange.

He chuckles and moved closer again giving me a quick kiss, I could taste the blood on his lips, my blood. I notice he had a bit on the corner of his mouth, I shut my eyes leaning towards him. I stick my tongue out and licked up the small drop of blood, I opened my eyes and saw the shocked look on his face. I continued to cling to him, my legs still felt weak and I didn't know how long this feeling would last but I didn't care. I hear him sigh and help me stand up by holding my waist, I hear him say something but I didn't make out what it was.

"Lukas, I'm serious are you alright?" I whine looking up at him he looked concerned.

"I-I feel…fine." I lean against him and shut my eyes.

I feel him rubbing small circles on my back, "I think I put too much, it doesn't seem to be bothering you that much."

I shook my head no, "I-it's not, it just feels weird." I mutter clinging to him even more.

He smiles kissing me once more, "I'm about seventy years old, I was turned in to a vampire at the age of twenty."

I hear myself panting as I look up at him, "Wh-what? What are you doing?" I ask wondering why he was telling me this now.

I feel him lick my neck, probably just getting some blood off. "I was head of the royal guard, I was cocky and didn't think anyone could beat me. That arrogance is what caused me all this trouble." He sighs running his hand through my hair trying to calm me down. "Don't focus too much on it or it'll take longer to go away."

I look down as he continued to run his hand through my hair, "That why you're telling me more about yourself? S-so I'll stop thinking about it."

"Mhmm." He hummed as he kissed the top of my head, "It seems to affect you more than vampires, or I put too much. But either way just to be safe, I won't be doing this again for a while."

"My head feels fuzzy inside, my body feels hot wh-what even is this venom?" I ask looking up at him, he was smiling, a real smile.

"Think of it as just a way to help a lover get in to a certain mood." I huff understanding what he meant, though I've never done anything like this I can tell what I'm supposed to be feeling.

"Make it stop, I liked it at first but it's becoming too much." I feel my face heating up and my whole body was trembling.

He sighed, "I'll have to drink more from you, is that alright?" I nod and moved my head so he had access to my neck again.

I feel him lean down and started drinking my blood as his fangs pierce my skin like before. It took a few minutes for the venom to start wearing off, I was finally able to calm down enough I could think straight. I tapped his shoulder twice then lightly pushed him away telling him I was fine, so he could stop. I was starting to feel dizzy from blood loss anyways, I was glad he made it stop I wasn't ready for anything like that yet. I shut my eyes and lean against him once more and sighed as he wrapped his arms around me again.

"Let's go to my room so you can rest, afterwards we'll be staying here one more day so we can gather all we need and leave." I nod and was about to stand up on my own but he stopped me. "I'll carry you, I took a lot of blood you shouldn't be walking right now."

He picks me up and I don't argue, I let him carry me down the hall and in to a bedroom it was big like the other one we were in but the bed was smaller and there wasn't as much stuff in it. "This is your room? Was it your room as a human too?" I ask looking up at him.

He nods and placed me gently on the bed, "Have you eaten yet?" He sits down beside me on the edge of the bed and runs his hand through my hair again.

I shook my head no, "Not yet, I've been sleeping most of the time." He leans down and kisses me, he said he'd go grab me something to eat but I stopped him. I wasn't feeling hungry and I didn't want him to leave. "Just stay, sleep with me or something I just don't want you to leave yet."

He sighs in defeat knowing it was pointless to argue with me, "Fine, but just for a little while then I'm grabbing you something to eat." He lays down next to me and holds me close, it felt nice.

It didn't take long for me to fall asleep, from the blood loss and just being tired in general I managed to fall asleep easily. I felt happy, I felt like things were going to get better when he was beside me like this and I hope it doesn't end.

 ** _Alrighty, so I bet you didn't really find the venom part as interesting as you'd hoped it'd be. ;D If you want me to actually go in to more detail on it or have another scene with it but have them go further I wouldn't mind. I didn't go in to it too much because . I was worried it'd be too much and it wouldn't be rated T anymore. So tell me now if you'd like that and I'll put the rating up higher._**

 ** _If you didn't understand, humans are weaker than vampires. The venom is strong and meant for them, so for a human to be injected with it can cause stronger reactions than if it were a vampire. The more he concentrates on the venom itself the stronger it gets because the body is only focusing on that, so Mathias worried and hoped in distracting him for a bit it'd ease the affects a little. Also, not to mention the fact he added a lot so that didn't help the situation either…._**


	8. Chapter 8

**_There, another one this week because I felt bad for making you guys wait so long for the last one. ^-^ Hope you enjoy it!_**

It was bright and sunny outside; the sun was up and it seemed like it was about two in the afternoon. So much for a little while, it seems I slept another whole day and night. I look over beside me and was surprised at what I saw when I woke up, now it just seems like a nice view. Mathias was actually asleep beside me, he wasn't faking it either because I kissed him and he didn't move. I thought he was dead at first but checked and noticed he was in fact breathing. It was an amazing sight to be honest, he looked so innocent and calm in his sleep. Since he wasn't frowning or anything his face was smooth and had no sign of any emotions. He looked relaxed, I watched as his chest began to rise and go back down as he breaths. He told me he didn't sleep unless he felt totally safe, I guess this castle really is safe if he's sleeping and the fact he must finally trust me. I look down blushing as I clench my fists, why wouldn't he trust me? What we did yesterday was so strange, but apparently, it's to bring others closer together and he seemed happy to do so. I sigh and shut my eyes trying to stop thinking about it blushing this much when you just woke up a few minutes ago can't be healthy.

I slowly climb out of bed careful not to wake him up, I walk over to the door to grab my cloak. It was the only thing I had to protect me from the cold and this castle gets pretty cold even during the day. He must have taken it off me when I fell asleep because I could have sworn I fell asleep with it on. I walk back over to the bed and smiled a little when I saw him turn on to his side I see his hand moving a little as if he's looking for me in his sleep. I bring my hand up and placed it on top of his I watch as he quickly began to relax again, I see the corner of his mouth twitch in to a small smile. I laugh quietly as I sit at the edge of the bed, I hold his hand and gently squeezed it watching as he smiled again. I would have continued until he woke up but I heard my stomach growl, I wasn't surprised I haven't eaten anything since we got to the castle. I get up again and gave him a quick kiss on the head before I left the room in search for something to eat. I knew he wouldn't be up until the sun went down so I had plenty of time to spare, I walk around trying to find the kitchen but no luck.

I huff opening the fifth door I saw in this huge castle, and it was another room! I lean against the cold stone wall and sigh, I'll probably have to wait until Tino or Mathias wakes up because there is no way I will be able to find this kitchen alone. I decided it'd be best to just head to the library and distract myself with some reading so that it'll be easier to wait and I won't be focused on my hunger. I began walking around again, I had some knowledge to where the library was so that was better than nothing and would make it easier to find. I made it down some hall that had an opening in the walls that allowed you to look outside and see an amazing view. I decided to check it out, I lean against the edge and rest my arms on the stone railing. I look out in to the forest and noticed how big it actually was, you could tell it was an active area the birds were flying in the sky you could see smaller animals hopping around the trees. It was nice, it was rather calming when you forget about all the monsters out there wanting to kill you. I turn around to start heading back in the direction I believed the library was at, I open the door and just as I thought the huge library was on the other side. I smile as I look around, this place really was the best part of the castle at least in my opinion.

I climb a small ladder so I could reach the top shelves, I look through the books trying to find one that interested me. I hum a song that Emil used to love when he was little, he'd have me sing it to him every night so he could sleep. I find myself humming it sometimes when I'm away from him it makes me feel close to him even if he isn't here. I sigh when I didn't find anything that caught my eye, that is until I saw this huge brown dusty book. It looked older than all the other ones in this library, which was saying something because all these books look old. I grab it off the shelf and climbed down the ladder, I walked over to a table and sat down. I placed the book on the table and stared at it, from what I can tell it's the history book of this whole castle from when it was first built to when it suddenly stops at the part mentioning the war between monsters and humans.

I open it up and coughed when dust flew up in to the air, I swat the dust away and looked down at a few pages.

 _1729, king Henrik decided ruler of this land though found joy in the smaller things in life had men build this castle for his beautiful wife who enjoyed luxuries. It took around twenty years but with all the hard work from the villagers and monsters they managed to finish sadly, they finished too late for the queen had died of an illness that was plaguing the land. The king had wanted this castle finished even though our beloved queen was not with us anymore, he wanted this castle in memory of her._

I look up and was surprised at what I had read, did it really say monsters? I thought they were enemies, what happened?

 _1766, Queen Elizabeth had taken over the thrown she brought peace to the land and managed to find a way that the crops would begin to grow once more after the terrible curse a witch had put on this land. Many believed she was a witch herself but instead of an evil one she was one of the good ones, many weren't pleased with the fact their queen could be a witch and they had her burnt at the stake. She lived until the age of forty which was when the villagers killed her. At that act, many monsters were not pleased with the humans though no one thought anything of it._

They killed their queen because they thought she was a witch? But if she did so well and helped them so much why kill her? It makes no sense!

 _1790, King Theodor was now ruler and everyone adored him. They especially loved his daughter a beautiful young woman who looked like her great grandmother Queen Elizabeth. She was named after her because of the resemblance and in memory of her death. It seemed like the kingdom would finally prosper until one fateful day when suddenly the monsters turned on us and began killing off all humans in their paths! Many died, the royal guards did their best to keep the beasts from the royal family and protect as many innocents as possible. Around this time princess Elizabeth was planned to be married to the head of the royal guards Mathias_ _Køhler. He was around this time fighting off the monsters as well, all was going good the humans were pushing the monsters back deep in to the forest. The royal family felt the need to take extra precaution and send the subjects to a small village out of range of the forest and monsters so they'd be safe._

 _1800, We thought we were winning but it was all just a joke! We're no match for him and I fear the worst. All the guards are dead I'm alone in this castle now and I hope whoever reads this will find a way to stop him. Mathias has died, the royal family were brutally murdered by the hands of that monster. I don't have much time, this isn't part of the history book this is a warning. Stop him, he had someone on the inside doing his dirty work we can't trust anyone not even other hum-_

I frown when it suddenly cuts off, a long line of pen going down the piece of paper as if the writer was pulled away. What did he mean don't trust anyone? What had happened back then and why did he seem so worried? Who was he talking about, and who had betrayed the humans? I wanted to know more. I jump when I hear the door open, I look behind me and saw Berwald. He just stares at me then walked over and took the book, he glared at the page then shut it ignoring the dust and put it back on the shelf without a problem.

I'm guessing he isn't too happy with me reading that book.

I frown in confusion wondering why he wouldn't want me not to read it, "Sorry, I was just curious that's all."

He glared at me and then just walked away without another word. I sigh and relaxed in the chair once he left, I figured since he was up Mathias must be up as well. I get up and leave the library in search for him, this castle was like a maze so it may take a while. Unless he's looking for me too which he probably is. I wander around aimlessly as I wait for Mathias to find me, I was tired of looking around the castle since I knew I wouldn't be able to find anything anyways. I make it back to that hallway with the beautiful view and surprisingly I saw Mathias who was staring down at the forest. I quietly walk over to him and gently touched his hand. He pulled away and quickly turned to face me, his eyes were red but quickly turned back to blue.

"Sorry, you surprised me. Did I scare you?" he asks grabbing my hand.

I shook my head and lied, "No just surprised me that's all. So, how'd you sleep?" I ask smiling up at him.

He chuckled and pulled me in front of him so I was against the stone railing and his chest was pressed against my back and his arms were wrapped around me. "Fine, I haven't slept in a long time so it was nice."

I nod, "You seemed relaxed, I saw you when I woke up. I would have stayed but I got hungry." I admitted as I lean against him resting my head on his chest.

He kisses the top of my head and smiles, "Did you eat?"

I shook my head no once more, "I couldn't find the kitchen." He laughs at me and backs away.

"Let's go get you something to eat then, we can come back and look at the view later. Okay?" He grabs my hand again and I nod.

He leads me down the hall and opens a door which lead to another hall, he obviously knew this castle well. We go through a few more hallways until we finally make it to the kitchen, I look around amazed at how big it was. He chuckled and kissed me on the lips, I blushed looking away.

"S-so what do you have to eat here?" I ask as I cover my mouth in embarrassment.

He smiles and opened a cabinet, "We mostly just have meat, since we don't drink from humans we use animals instead." He pulls out a big thing of meat and looks back at me, "This one is fresh, we don't get sick so even if the meat is rotten we can still use the blood."

I almost gag at the thought of that, "Oh, you sure that one is alright for me to eat?" I ask staring at it.

He laughs, "Yes, I'm sure. Tino caught it not that long ago and I can smell it and there is no rotten smell at all." He then grabs a pan and puts it on the stove.

I watched as he goes walking around the kitchen, did he really know how to cook? I sit down at the table and continued to watch him. He moved around as if it were nothing, grabbing all different stuff to season the meat with. Once he got all he needed he starts seasoning the meat then placed it on the pan, it took a while but once he was done I could smell it and it smelt amazing! He grabs a plate from the top cabinet and put the meat on it, he walks over to me and put it down in front of me along with a fork and knife.

"Sorry, we only have meat is that alright?" He asks sitting down next to me.

I nod, "it's fine, it smells really good." He grinned at the compliment then rests his head on his hand using his elbow for support on the table.

"Tell me if you don't like it, I'll make you another one." I blush then looked away.

"No need for that I'm sure it's fine. I'm not picky." I cut a piece of the meat off and picked it up with the fork, I bring it to my mouth and once it hit my tongue I let out a small noise of approval.

It was one of the best pieces of meat I've ever had, I saw him smirking he looked so full of himself right now. "You like it?" he asks though from the look he was giving me he knew he didn't have to ask.

I nod, "How'd you learn how to cook so well?" I ask as I take another bite.

He laughs then looked away smiling sadly, "She showed me, it's how we got closer actually."

I frown and look down at my plate, "What made you love her so much?" I ask softly as I set my fork and knife down.

He shrugs, "All different things, everything, from her looks to personality to abilities." The look on his face as he remembers her made me upset, he looked so happy but sad at the same time. "She was amazing, and her magical abilities were just perfect she was in no way weak though many underestimated her because of how she looked."

I smile a little, "She sounds amazing, shame the royal family died out."

He nods, "The king, queen and….she died, though all believe her sister died as well yet no one found her body." He sighs, "Some think the family sent her away to the village to protect her and the royal blood others think she ran off and died in the woods."

I go back to eating as I listen, "what do you think happened?"

"Even if I knew I couldn't tell you, that'd give away her location and endanger her and whoever is around her." He smiles and winks at me, "Though the royal family isn't the rulers of the land anymore, I still gave my life to protect them."

I blush and looked down at my plate which was now empty, I was full and honestly it was the best thing I've eaten in a long time. He gets up and grabs my plate, he walks over to the sink and just tosses it in there. "Berwald can clean it, so we should probably get ready we're leaving tomorrow night." He grabs my hand and helps me up and pushes the chair in.

"Where are we heading after this?" I follow him out of the kitchen, it was hard to keep up when he walked quickly like that.

"Different parts of the forest, we have no idea where Ivan could be other than he's not going to be in the same place he was last time I saw him." He looks back at me his eyes red, "He has many creatures working for him so when we leave this castle I want you to follow everything I saw, okay?"

I nod and looked around as we continue walking down a hall, "If you taught me how to fight I could be a little helpful in some way."

"I already had that planned, Tino will be teaching you how to control your magic better and use it for fighting instead of just healing." We stop at a dark brown door and he pulls out a key that was attached to a string he wore around his neck.

"When will he do that if we're leaving tomorrow?" I watch him unlock the door, his whole body looked tense as he slowly opened it.

"He'll be doing it while we travel, don't worry I trust Tino to keep you safe when I'm not around." I frown and peeked inside the room.

"What about Berwald, do you trust him?" He nods and stepped in front of me so I couldn't see in the room.

"With my life, he's just as loyal as Tino is these two have been my closest friends since I can remember." I watch him pull something out and smirk, "Well, actually this is my closest friend longer than anyone."

My eyes widen when he pulled out a huge axe, it had a long metal pole that was attached to axe it looked like it was literally made for him. It fit his height perfectly and by the looks of it was used quite often. He grins as he traced the dull part of the axe with his index finger, he looked a little too happy to be holding that thing.

"This baby has been my weapon for years, I never fight without it." He carefully hands it to me and I gasp at how heavy it is and struggled to hold it up. He pulled out something else and looked back at me, "You'll use this, until you can finally learn how to use your magic for fighting I need to know you have something to protect yourself with." He takes the axe back and hands me a sword.

The sword itself looked beautiful, the handle crafted perfectly so that every little detail stood out, it looked sharp the slightest touch could cut right through you. Thankfully it wasn't as heavy as his axe, I liked it. He hands me the sheath, I put the sword inside and strapped it to my shoulder. "What else do you have in there?" I ask trying to peek again.

He chuckles, "Armor, and more weapons. I'd give you some but you seem to struggle as it is just holding that sword." He smirks shutting the door, "Your delicate little body can't handle any more weight." He teased and I didn't like it.

I glare at him, "I'm not delicate, I'm not as weak as you think I am you know!"

He laughs and kisses me, "I know, I'm just teasing you."

Once he shut and locked the door he leads me to another room, "Work with Tino before we leave, at least you'll have some experience before we go. I'll be busy preparing for the trip so I can't be bothered, alright?"

I nod, "Alright, will you be working during the day too?"

He shook his head no, "Too risky, and I can't use your cloak because you need it so I'll meet you back in the room once the sun rises. We can sleep together again."

Suddenly Tino pops up from behind the door grinning, "So you two finally slept together? About time, figured Mathias would have gone crazy from lust." He teased.

I blush and hide my face behind my hands, Mathias just growls. "We haven't done that so drop it, it's none of your business what we do when we're alone."

He sighs, "Alright, alright. I get it, come on Lukas let's get started, shall we?" I nod and moved my hands down to my side.

I began walking in to the room when I was pulled back, Mathias tilts my head back so I was looking up at him, "I'll see you later, be careful. Tino won't go easy on you but I will hurt him if he hurts you." He leans down and kisses me.

I hum in approval as I shut my eyes but before I could do anything else I feel the pressure leave my lips, I open my eyes and sigh when I saw he was gone. I step inside the training room and jump when the door slams shut on its own. I look around nervously, I see two bright blue eyes staring at me. Tino walks over to me and smirks, I didn't like the look on his face.

"I see you're staring at my eyes, all vampire's eyes are different mine just happen to glow a brighter blue when I'm feeling a strong emotion." He sighs and swings a sword around carelessly, "Now, let's get started. I want you to try and block this sword when I throw it at you, I want you to make a shield it's simple so I expect it done by at least the fourth try."

Before I could say anything a sword suddenly flew at my face, I gasp and put my hands up shutting my eyes. I feel a sudden breeze and soft whistling noise past my ear, I open my eyes and saw Tino frowning with his hands on his hips. "W-warn me next time!" I shout standing up straight.

He huffs, "In battle there is no warning, you need better reflexes. Again!" Once more a sword suddenly flew at me, I quickly put my hands up and tried thinking up a shield or something to block it but nothing happened. I jump to the side dodging the sword that would have hit me directly in the chest if I hadn't moved.

He's really trying to hit me! "I-It's not working!"

Tino shook his head ignored my complaint, "Again."

We spent hours on training yet I made no progress, Tino was getting annoyed and I was growing nervous the more annoyed he got because the swords came at me faster. One time I had scraped my knee and tore a hole in my pants, he didn't care and just told me to get up. As he continues to throw swords at me I continue to fail, I kept telling him all my magic can do is heal there is no defense or anything like that but he wouldn't listen! I see the sun beginning to rise, I was hoping he'd finally let me have a break but that wasn't the case.

"Again, are you even trying?" he paused for a moment then I see him smirk, "Mathias was right, you are weak. The princess would have done it on her first try." He shrugs and turns around to walk away. "Maybe it's pointless teaching such a weak human?"

I clench my fists and glare at him, "I'm not weak, do it again!" I shout, it hurt when he said that. I don't want to be compared to the princess.

Tino smirks and like all the other times, quickly threw another sword at me. It came fast, faster than all the others. I shut my eyes and concentrate only on my magic, I feel something beginning to form I almost have it, I got it! I open my eyes when I believe I had finally summoned a shield but there was nothing. I didn't have time to react the sword came at me and was seconds from hitting me, what do I do!? My eyes widen as the sword gets closer, it was aimed right at my face. I began panicking hoping Tino wasn't actually going to let it hit me, it was moving so quickly then just as it was about to hit and it was centimeters from my face I see someone grab it. I release a breath of air that I was holding in and fall to my knees suddenly feeling weak, Tino was going to let the sword hit me he isn't as nice as I thought he was. I look down at my lap and glare at the floor, I can't believe I couldn't summon the shield. I look up when I hear the sword fall to the ground with a loud clank, I see it was surprisingly Berwald who caught it.

He was glaring at Tino, though it didn't seem as bad as the looks he gives me. Tino pouts and looks away.

"I was just trying to get him emotional enough he'd summon something, anything would have worked but nothing happened." He sighs, "I hate to say it but I really don't think he'll be able to do anything but heal."

I get up and head towards the door, I can do it I just need more practice that's all! I slam the door shut as I leave the room and head towards Mathias's room. I hear Tino calling for me but I ignore it, I wanted to see Mathias right now and no one else. I know he'll tell me I can do it, he won't go throwing swords at me either! He'll hold me and tell me it'll be alright, he'll probably threaten Tino too since he was throwing swords at me and almost killed me. I turn a corner smiling a little as I think about what he may do, when his anger isn't aimed towards me I don't find it as horrible. I smile even more when I see him as I enter the last hall way, I was about to call him but my eyes widen when I see him drinking from some animal. He had a whole deer on the ground and he was drinking from it as if he hadn't eaten in days. I nearly gag as I watch his teeth tear in to the flesh causing blood to cover his jaw and mouth. I watch him look up when he noticed the sun was rising, he growled and threw the rest of the deer away I hear it fall to the ground outside in the forest. It was easy to dispose of since we were in the hall with the view, I wanted to walk up to him but he still looked tense. I watch him begin to walk away probably heading to his room to clean up, I decided to wait a few minutes before following so he had enough time to get everything done. I awkwardly head to his room hoping he wasn't covered in blood still, I never seen him feed off anything before. Even when he was drinking from me it's not like I saw it, and he wasn't covered in blood either.

I make it to the door and slowly opened it, as I peek inside I see him sitting on the bed staring out the window. "Hey, did you get everything you needed to done today?" I ask as I step in.

He turns around and smiles at me, no blood to be seen. "Yeah, how'd training go?"

I huff and sat down next to him, "Not so good, Tino nearly killed me if Berwald hadn't shown up I probably would have had a sword through my head."

He frowns and checks me out, probably searching for any injuries. He stops once he made it to my knee, "You got hurt." He muttered.

I nod, "I fell dodging one of the swords, he wanted me to summon a shield but…. I couldn't."

He sighs and leaned forward kissing me on the forehead, "You'll get it eventually, just be patient." He wraps his arms around me and pulls me on to his lap. "Check out the view, the forest always looked beautiful at night." I stare out the window and noticed he was right.

"Yeah, it doesn't look amazing." I feel him rest his chin on my shoulder and looked outside as well, "Hey Mathias, can I ask you something?" I ask lightly squeezing his hand.

"Hmm?" I fell him kissing down my neck his fangs lightly tracing a vein, I shiver but tried to remain in control.

"Do you miss being human? I mean, did you ever wish you died with the others?" I ask softly, he sighs and stops kissing me. He pulled away a little just enough we had space between us.

I turn around to face him, I hope I didn't upset him too much. "I do, for both of those. Since I'm a vampire I can't die, not that easily anyways. Watching people die constantly, makes me wish I wasn't like this and I had perished with everyone else." He looks down, "But, I guess I can't change that at least one thing decent came out of this."

I frown in confusion, "And that is?"

He looks up smiling at me, "You."

He pulled me closer once more and kissed me on the lips, rougher than he usually does. I feel his hands wandering my body, he unties the string on my cloak and pulls it off. My eyes widen as I look up at him what was he doing!? He tossed my cloak and I saw it land on the floor, I try to sit up so I could hang it up somewhere but he gently pushes me back down and smiles.

"You make me feel like I have some of my humanity back. When I'm with you I feel emotions, I haven't felt in years, I-I don't want to lose that." He lays on top of me holding on tightly. He hides his face against my shoulder, "I don't want you to leave me, promise you'll stay with me." He whispers.

I felt my chest tighten, I wrap my arms around him and grip the back of his shirt as I stare up at the ceiling. "I promise, I won't leave you."

 ** _^-^ There you go, hope you enjoyed that. Next chapter will have more information on Berwald and Tino. Explaining why they became vampires, how and what had happened to them during the war._**


	9. Chapter 9

**_Hope you enjoy this!_**

"Put the last of the water in your bag, you need it more than we do. I don't want you getting dehydrated." It was the last hour before we were going to leave this castle and Mathias was worrying more than usual. Continuously telling me to pack enough water, food and warm clothes so I would be prepared.

Tino was just smiling and laughing in the back at how ridiculous Mathias was being, Berwald was trying to keep him quiet leading him away somewhere when Mathias got too annoyed. As I pack the hundredth bottle of water, I sigh and sit down. I may be exaggerating about the water but that's what it felt like, I had more than enough water and food to last me months. I lean against the wall and watched as Mathias went around checking to make sure we didn't forget anything. We were going to be heading out on horses, since I never rode one before I must ride with someone so we don't slow down. I'm probably going to be riding with Mathias most of the time.

"Lukas, come on. I want to make sure you can at least get on the horse by yourself." He looks over at me and motions me to follow him.

I sigh and get up, I grab my bag and head outside where he leads me to the small stable right outside the castle door. "I'm sure I can get on to a horse, it's not that difficult." He grabs my bag and points at the horse's back.

"You never know, so I want you to climb on. If we need to get away fast you'll need to know how to get on quickly." Once he set up the saddle he put the bag down and sat on a log watching me closely.

I ignore his stair and tried climbing up on the horse, it wasn't working. "…the horse is broken." I mutter as I got stuck on the saddle and the horse made a loud whining noise.

Mathias just laughs and gets up quickly getting me off the saddle before the horse could get mad, "you're getting on wrong first, if you go on that way you'll end up facing it's rear not it's head." He kneels and grabs one of my feet, he pulls it up careful not to make me fall and placed it on the stirrup. "You use this foot, then lift off so that you can swing your leg around and mount it without a problem."

I blush and look away, "Okay, I got it." I mumble and lightly kicked his hand away. He chuckles and backed off.

I did what he said and just like that I could get on the horse without a problem, I didn't think it'd be that simple. I look down and realized though, this was terrifying if you didn't know what to do next. "Relax, if you start freaking out the horse will too." I watch him petting the horse's head and smile up at me.

"Mathias…. I want to get down." I glance around nervously then moved my leg to the other side trying to climb off the horse.

"Lukas wait-" before he could warn me the horse let out a loud neigh, suddenly it stood up on its back legs and started kicking it's front.

I gasp as I am flung off, I land on the ground and shut my eyes when I see two hooves ready to land on top of me. A few seconds later I open my eyes when I didn't feel anything, Mathias had the horse's reigns and was calming the animal down. He looks over at me once the horse relaxed, he sighs and kneels in front of me. "You alright? Next time let me help you down."

I nod, "I-I'm fine, I guess it is best I ride with someone." He helps me up and kisses me.

"Yeah, careful next time I don't want you getting hurt." He picks up my bag and put the strap on his shoulder. "We're leaving now." He said when he saw Tino and Berwald walking our way.

Before I could say anything, Mathias picks me up and puts me on the horse, he climbs on easily and holds on to the reigns, his arms were around me so I wouldn't fall and his chest was pressed against my back. We were so close, it was almost embarrassing. I watch Tino, with Berwald's help get on his horse then Berwald got on his own. I see all the bags we have packed strapped mostly on Berwald, Tino had one and Mathias had two or three. I had none. Our horse turns around towards this dirt path that was larger than the one we used to get here, Mathias snapped the reigns and told the horse to go. Just like that we were on our way, heading who knows where? It was a quiet journey so far, it doesn't seem like these three are much for small talk when going somewhere. I was tempted to look back so I could see Mathias but, for some reason I was nervous because of the eerie feeling in the air. I lean back a little more feeling safer the closer I am to him, though I was with three ex-knights this forest is a dangerous place I know that for sure so anything could happen even with their protection.

A few hours pass, the whole time it's been quiet. I wanted to say something for a while now but, I could feel how tense Mathias was and I was afraid he'd snap at me. We're doing well so far so I didn't want me and him to start fighting again, so I kept my mouth shut. I could have continued that way but my stomach began to growl and embarrassingly enough it was loud so Mathias heard it. I see him stop the horse by pulling the reigns back slightly, he jumps down and takes my hand helping me down as well.

He looks back at Tino and Berwald, "We're stopping for a bit, I'm sure we all need a break." He's saying that so he wasn't singling me out, that's surprisingly nice of him. Though I'm sure the other two knew why we were stopping but they didn't seem to mind.

Tino even smiled and said him and Berwald were going to eat as well when he saw Mathias pulling out some food for me. I watch them walk off in to a deeper part of the forest away from the dirt trail. "I can get my own food you know." I mutter as he continues digging through a bag probably looking for some water.

"I know but I got it, how are you feeling by the way? You've been quiet and that's not like you." He smiles as he hands me some water.

I huff looking away once I took it, "I got this eerie feeling, plus you seemed tense and I didn't want you snapping at me."

He frowns sitting down next to me I hear his armor clank, he set his axe down beside him on the other side farthest from me. "I wouldn't snap at you, not any more. Also, what do you mean eerie feeling?"

I shrug as I nibble on some fruit, "I don't know, like…someone's watching? I thought you felt it too which is why you were so tense."

He shook his head and frowned some more as he stared at his gloved hand, "No, it's probably just nerves. You haven't had much luck in this forest and from being in that safe castle you let your guard down."

I sigh, "Maybe, I just feel something isn't-" I was cut off by a loud growl it almost sounded like a howl.

Mathias quickly stood up and grabbed his axe, he was in front of me in a fighting stance ready to kill whatever was in his way. "Damn it, where is Tino and Berwald?" He glanced around, I could tell he was worried for his friends.

I slowly stood up and glanced in front of him but he pushed me back, "Don't, if there is something I don't want it seeing you." He says in a low voice meaning he was serious.

I hid behind him like he said to do and looked down at the ground, I hear the bushes rustling and quick footsteps sounds like multiple of them! I hear something emerge from the bushes but it wasn't what I thought it was, it was Tino and Berwald! "Two of Ivan's wolfs probably scouting for some food, they can smell Lukas. They seem to be pups though so nothing to serious." Tino explained as he pulled out a sword.

"I suppose not but, where's the mother then?" just as he said that the two wolf pups come out of the bushes as well and lunge at Mathias, both of them at the same time.

He grunts as he pushed me back making me fall, he swings his axe with his other hand at the same time cutting one of the pups but the other managed to jump on top of him and began attacking. "Mathias!" I shout, out of reflex I reach out for him. Big mistake. One of the pup's snap at me managing to get a small bite, I pull back and clutch my hand tightly to my chest, I look down and saw I was bleeding.

Berwald came rushing over and dug his sword in to the back of one of the pups causing it to let out a cry then go limp, the sound of it all was horrible. I could hear the bones crunching and the crying pup together just made me want to go deaf. Mathias had managed to push the other one off him, he pinned it to the ground ignoring its attempts at trying to bite him. He moved out of the way long enough for Berwald to kill that one as well, after the last cry of the small wolf finished the three look over at me at the same time. I didn't realize what those looks were for until I remembered I was bleeding, they're vampires. This was a bad combination.

"I-I'm fine, just nipped me that's all…" I mutter as I look down at my hand once more, I have bite marks on my palm.

I see Mathias taking deep breaths, his eyes were shut tight as he looks away from me. I watch his fists clench then unclench, that usually meant he was trying to control himself whether he was angry or…hungry. I glance over at the other two, Berwald's eyes were a bright red seems he has the same ones as Mathias. He looked like he was having a hard time controlling himself as well, Tino he looked like he was struggling most out of the three of them. I could see his fangs, his eyes are the bright blue color, he was growling. This wasn't going to end well, I had to either cover up this wound or I'll end up their dinner. I slowly get back up, I made sure to be careful and not make any sudden quick movements. I make my way to the horse me and Mathias ride, I was almost there when a drop of blood fell from my hand and landed on the ground. At that moment Tino suddenly lunged at me, Mathias was quick to move and try to block him but Tino managed to knock him down. My eyes widen as he comes at me, his speed was insane I have never seen anything move so quickly before! I put my hands up, I don't know what that was going to do but instincts told me to do so. As I put my hands up I feel more blood drip down to my wrist, I shut my eyes I could feel some tingly feeling throughout my whole body. Weird thing is the feeling began to move only to my arms, then to my hands just as I could feel Tino was about to tackle me to the ground I open my eyes and the tingling feeling went away but in front of me was a shield! Though frighteningly behind that shield was Tino growling and trying to get to me. It gave Mathias enough time to pull him away and Berwald to calm him down. My shield goes away and I felt weak, Mathias quickly made his way over to me and held me up.

"Dammit, the poison I forgot about that!" I look up at him, my vison going foggy.

"Wh-what?" he lays me down and takes out the bag with all the medical supplies. He wraps my hand up and glares down at the ground not looking up at me at all. "Mathias, what p-poison?" I ask sitting up but got dizzy and had to lay back down.

"The pup's, when they're young they have poison in their bites to protect them when the mother isn't around. As they get older the poison spreads throughout them and anything they do to you can be poisonous. It's why Ivan loves them so much." He looks away I notice his jaw clench, "The poison can even kill a vampire like me, it'll only take a day. For a human… I don't know how long."

Before I could reply to him or even worry, he picks me up and puts me on the horse carefully. Once I was on safely he jumps on as well and held me close so I wouldn't fall. "We're heading to the nearest village in the forest, Berwald calm Tino down before you meet us there!" once again he moved quickly and Berwald didn't even have time to look up at him.

The ride was bumpy and fast, it was making me sick but even when I warned Mathias about it he ignored me. I could see by the look of him he was worried, his eyes were red and his whole body felt tense. "M-mathias, slow down. I really am going to b-be sick!"

He shook his head, "No time to slow down, you could end up dead before we even make it to the village." He uses one hand and hands me an empty bag. "Use this if you have to, but I'm not stopping."

I grab the back and put it to use quickly, I hunch over as I vomit. I hear Mathias growling even over all my gagging, the sicker I look the angrier he looks.

It took about an hour but finally we made it to a small village in the forest, he helps me off the horse and carries me in to what seems to be a hut. "Where's you healer in the village?" He shouts looking around.

A man with blonde hair comes walking out, he had huge eyebrows! He glares at Mathias and crossed his arms, "Me, and it's rude to shout. So, what is it you need?" he asks then looks down at me and his eyes widen. "Put him on the table, I'll get started. You're really cutting it close you bloody git!" he goes rummaging through some stuff on a shelf then pulls out a small bottle with purple liquid inside. Mathias sets me down on the table and runs his hand through my hair quietly muttering that I'll be okay.

I shut my eyes and coughed a bit, I hear Mathias growl again. He wipes my mouth and I notice blood on his glove, the blonde quickly walks over to us and opens the bottle. He puts the bottle to my lips and tips it back, I whimper as the liquid goes down my throat. Once it touched me I felt it beginning to burn and it hurt, a lot! I smack the empty bottle away and screamed gripping my hair tightly wanting the burning to stop! I feel someone pin my hands down so I wouldn't pull at my hair anymore which annoyed me, I began squirming around trying to get them away but that wasn't working.

"Let me go!" I scream arching my back trying anything to get them away, I hear Mathias saying something but I couldn't understand. It all sounded like everything was underwater. "It hurts! M-Mathias, make it stop! It hurts so much!" I cry out.

I feel the person's grip tighten on my wrists, I see another bottle being brought to my mouth I turn my head away. I didn't trust him anymore, I wasn't going to drink that! My eyes widen when someone grabs my jaw and yanks my head back he forces the liquid in to my mouth then once it was there he covers my mouth and covered my nose so I couldn't breathe. I cough and gasp as I finally swallow it, the person finally let me go and I grew dizzy again. I felt my whole body grow heavy, I glanced around since I was unable to move my eyes darted to the sides trying to find Mathias. He wouldn't just leave me here with this person, would he? Not after what he did to me! A few minutes later and my whole body was practically a rock, I shut my eyes since I couldn't keep them open anymore and I passed out.

"It'll take a while, even with my magic he won't heal overnight!" I hear someone shouting, I had just woken up and I feel like I've slept for years. My throat was dry and I could barely speak.

"Well, do something he's been sleeping for a whole week now!" Mathias? I slowly open my eyes and try to sit up but my stomach hurt. I gasp and clutch my stomach quickly laying back down. What happened to me?

"That's because you waited too long to get him here! Plus, he's human so he was guaranteed to have a horrible reaction to all of this!" I look around the place wondering where I was. last, I remember Mathias was fighting those pups I know one bit me but that's all I got.

"Then when the hell do you think he'll wake up!?" Mathias sounded furious, I never heard him sound so angry before.

"Any day now, just be patient! If you keep yelling at me like this I may just kick you all out and he could end up dead!" Mathias went quiet after that, after a few minutes I hear him stomp away cursing loudly.

I groan when I feel my head starting to hurt, whatever happened must have seriously worried Mathias also must have really hurt me. I feel horrible, and I really want some water. I try sitting up again, this time I was fine. I sigh and ran my hand through my hair, it was all knotted up I must look horrible. I jump when I see a guy step inside, he had blonde hair, green eyes and huge eyebrows. His eyes widen when he looks over at me, but finally he smiles and walks over.

"I see you're finally awake, how are you feeling?" He asks as he goes digging through a bag.

"Horrible, what happened and where am I?" I ask, though my voice sounded weird and it hurt to talk.

He sighed, "here drink this I promise it's just water." He hands me a bottle of water and watched as I took a few sips. He crossed his arms as he sits down on a stool beside me, "You're in a small village in the forest, your cheery friend out there brought you here because you were bitten by one of Ivan's wolfs." He looks away, "Nasty creatures, anyways they carry a poison in their bite so when it bit you it didn't end well. I healed you, then put you to sleep so you could heal properly since you were moving around too much and screaming."

My eyes widen, "All that happened? I don't remember any of it." I mutter as I look down at the water in my hands.

He nods, "You won't either, the poison is very strong and has serious affects especially on humans like me and you."

I quickly look over at him, "You're human? I-I thought anyone who lived in the forest were…"

He smirks and leaned forward resting his elbows on the table I was sitting on. "Monsters, creatures? No, some humans either left the village you lived in or have been here their whole life."

I frown not understanding, "How do you know about the village?"

"Lots of creatures, humans and whatever else lives in these forests know about the village. It's honestly a big joke, the humans thinking their safe." He sighs and smiles sadly, "I was like that at one time."

"What do you mean?" before he could answer I see Tino step inside the hut.

"Oh, so you weren't talking to yourself. Glad to see you're finally awake Lukas." He looks down and awkwardly rubs the back of his neck. "Sorry about you know… almost attacking you."

The blonde man gets up and glares at Tino, "He doesn't remember anything after the bite so he won't understand what you're talking about."

Tino looks up, "Oh, well I still felt I had to apologize. You should go tell Mathias he's awake I'll keep an eye on him."

I watch the blonde guy nod then walk off muttering under his breath about damn vampires thinking they can order him around. Tino just laughs and shrugged it off, he walked over to me and sat down in the stool the other was sitting on earlier. "Sorry I don't remember anything." I say looking over at him.

He shrugs, "It's fine, probably for the best. I don't want you afraid of me." He moved his hand up and runs it through my hair he cringed when he noticed how knotted it was. "Here, let me help you with that."

I watch him walk over to a table in the hut, he grabbed a nearby brush and walks back over to me, "I'm sure he won't mind we use this." He said though I was sure he would mind. Either way he brought the brush to my hair and started brushing out the knots. "So how are you feeling?" He asks.

I shrug as I let him continue brushing my hair flinching when he hit a big knot. But he'd just mutter a quick apology. "Fine I guess, what happened while I was out?"

I hear him sigh, "Mathias nearly had a meltdown, he's been worried about you since Arthur, the guy who helped us and healed you. Since he gave you the antidote you've been unconscious for a whole week, we've been calming him down constantly so he didn't do anything irrational." He chuckles and ran his hand through the part of my hair he finished brushing. "But you know him, it's never easy. I'm sure it'll be a while until he returns because he was just fighting with Arthur and I doubt he wants to be near you when he's this upset and angry. He'd end up snapping at you."

I move my head down when I feel him gently push down on it so he could get the back easier. "He worries too much, I get why though he's lost so much."

Tino nods and smiles down at me, "There, done. And yes, you're right, and to be honest we've all lost something because of Ivan. Everyone in this forest has at least lost one thing dear to them."

I look up and turn to face him, "Everyone? How come they allowed this to happen?"

He sets the brush down and looks away, "We didn't let it happen, he was just too powerful."

I bite my lip and look down at my hands, "If you don't mind me asking what have you lost?"

I notice his fists clench and he grew tense I probably shouldn't have asked, "Well, it's more like who I have lost…" the tone in his voice didn't fit him it was filled with sorrow.

I slowly reach for his hand and held it, "I shouldn't have asked, you don't have to tell me."

He shook his head and forced a smile, "No, no it's fine. I-it was a long time ago he probably isn't even alive today…" I see his eyes go dark when he said that this obviously was something very painful to him. "Back when Ivan had just taken over, and Mathias was still locked up in his room me and Berwald were forced to work for him."

"Did he take Berwald from you, is that why you two are so close?" Tino chuckles and shook his head.

"No, Berwald has always been with me. Problem is, we were together so long we had started a family. We had a son who was twelve years old, he was always so happy even though times were dark. One day though, when I couldn't fulfil an order for Ivan because Peter my son, had gotten sick he thought it'd be best he take him from me." He glares down at his clenched fists I watch his whole body trembling slightly. "He took peter, turned me in to what I am now, told me I now have to deal with the guilt of knowing I was the one who allowed my son to die, it was my fault."

My eyes widen when I see tears falling down his face, "T-Tino… hey don't cry." I pull him closer and hug him.

It didn't last long though, he gently pushed me away and wiped his face. "Sorry, lost control for a second. It won't happen again." He sighs, "Now with Berwald, he lost something important to him as well. He always loved to say he loved me, called me his wife even though I'm a guy." He smiles slightly as he glanced outside. "It was always nice to hear, and it was his favorite thing to say. Ivan knew this, so he took it away from him."

"How? I don't understand…" Tino looked back at me frowning.

"He cut his tongue out, now he can't speak at all, he can't say he loves me, can't call me his wife. Though I know he loves me I know it kills him inside he can't say it." My eyes widen and I cover my mouth feeling sick. Ivan really is a cruel monster.

Everyone here must have been through so much at one point in their lives, it sickens me to think about it. Tino quickly grabs my hands and looks right at me with a serious expression on his face, "Don't let it get to you, you'll make yourself sick over thinking it all trust me. Once we finally find Ivan it'll all end and maybe the dark cloud that looms over this forest will be gone as well. Just think about that, and think about your future and it'll be alright."

I nod as Tino smiles at me, when he said that it made me feel there may be hope and it could possibly help everyone here. I was going to thank him but someone had entered the hut and I didn't have enough time to think when someone suddenly tackled me in to a hug. "Don't ever do that to me again!" I groan in pain when I could feel them hugging me to tightly.

"I-I'm sorry but can you p-please loosen your grip!?" right away just as I thought, Mathias had loosened his grip and looked me in the eyes.

"You feeling alright now? I'll kill that human if he didn't do his job properly." He growled but I stopped him from moving.

"I'm fine, just a little weak. Relax, I hear you've been causing trouble while I was out." He looked away his eyes turning red.

"Well if that Arthur guy did his job right I wouldn't have been so angry." I smile and placed my hand on his cheek and moved his head so he was facing me again.

"He did fine, from what I hear this poison is strong so it makes sense I was out so long." I lean forward and gave him a kiss on the lips. "Now that I am awake I expect you to apologize to him and relax the rest of the time we are here." I say softly hoping to relax him a little more.

He sighs, "Fine." He sits down on the table and pulls me on to his lap, "You're going to need new clothes, yours are covered in blood you coughed up while you were poisoned. And that smell will just cause trouble." His eyes darted to Tino who looked away with a guilty expression.

"I don't have any extra clothes with me though, we were kind of in a rush when we left the village…" Mathias sighs and looks around.

"I'll try to find someone who sells or is willing to give some clothes. In the meantime, you get some more rest we can't travel while you're weak." Tino stands up and holds his hands behind his back smiling.

"I'll get the clothes for him, you two stay here I'm sure Lukas would rather be with you than me or Arthur." He winks at me then walks off without another word.

I blush looking away, why did he always have to do this to me it's embarrassing! Mathias sits on the table I'm on and leans back looking outside the hut. "It's going to be a full moon tomorrow, meaning the red moon will be coming out." He smiles slightly as he looks up, "I never had a red moon with my soulmate, wonder what changes." He raises his hand up and looks at it, it's the hand that usually has the red string on it.

I blush and look down at my own hand as well, it was true people say amazing things happen on a red moon when you're finally with your soulmate but what happens? Some say good fortune, other say wisdom, the rare wealth it's all different for different people. "Will you spend the whole night with me tomorrow?" I ask quietly.

He looks over at me, first he looked confused then he smiled. "I'd like that, I planned on it anyways but you asking made it better."

I blush and glared at him, "Idiot then why did you let me ask!?" I cover my face with my hands to cover the red sneaking on to my cheeks.

He laughs and gently pulls my hands away, he gives me a small kiss on the lips and smirks. "Because, it's cute."

I dart my eyes to the left and saw a thick book, I grab it and glare at him. "Idiot!" I hit him off the top of the head with it and right away he groans clutching his head.

"I change my mind, you're so not cute!"


	10. AN

_**Sorry don't hate me this is just a A/N.**_

 _ **I just wanted to explain I will be updating this week, I haven't been able to because... My laptop hates me and any time I was close to being done the whole document deleted. Plus I was busy last week. I promise I'll try to start updating weekly again around Friday's and Saturday's. So thank you all for waiting I'll try to have the next chapter up in the next few days.**_

 _ **Again really sorry.**_


	11. Chapter 10

**_Alright, before I get started I just want to say a part in this story was not my idea this was given to me by AT-Stranger, I hope I got that right I'm going by your Deviantart name. Alright, hope you enjoy this story and the rating will be higher after this chapter so… I will leave a warning when the more mature content is written so if you don't want to read it you don't have to. If anyone else has any ideas I will look in to them and I will message you either in comments or PM if I decide to add it to the story._**

 ** _Alright, I'll stop bothering you now and get on with the chapter. Hope you enjoy and thank you all for reading and Thank you AT-Stranger for the idea ^-^ I loved it._**

"I feel fine, I'm sure I can go walk around now. I have to get up soon anyways, we don't have a lot of time on our hands." I try to convince Arthur I'm fine but he was so stubborn!

"I don't want to have to heal you again, if you end up sick or hurt it's on me and that crazy Vampire of yours will start throwing fits again!" He crossed his arms and glares at me, though he had a point I was tired of laying down on this table.

"I'm fine, I promise. If I do end up sick I'll tell Mathias to leave you alone and he won't bother you alright?" He goes quiet for a moment then sighs, I smile when I realized he had finally given in.

"Fine, he's at the well grabbing some water just take a left after you follow the dirt road and you'll be there." I nod and get up, my legs felt weak and were shaking but I managed to stay up.

"Before you leave though I have a few other things to give you, here." I watch as he digs through a closet, he pulls out first some news clothes for me though they didn't look like anything I'd wear.

It was a silk skirt that draped down to the bottom of your legs, it had puffed shoulders and long sleeves. It's dark blue with a white collar, though looked good not something I am used to wearing. "That's nice and all but… isn't that for woman?" I ask as he pulls out some white shoes and white stockings.

He smiles and shook his head, "it's normally what some people wear around here, I don't have any other clothes for you and I heard you were looking for some." I took the clothes and held them against my chest.

"Thank you, it's a lot better than wearing these bloody ones." He nods and turns around again but heads for a table instead of his closet.

"Put those on, I won't look until you say it's okay. Once you're ready I'll give you the next thing." I awkwardly stand there for a moment wondering If he was serious. Once I realized he was I looked down at the clothes and blushed.

"You better not look." I mutter as I put them on the table. I take off my dirty clothes and got dressed in the ones he gave me, once I was ready I told him he could turn around. When he did he had a book in his hands.

He walks over to me and smiles, "They said you were having a hard time with your magic, this book will teach you a lot more and you'll control it better." I take the book from him and smiled.

"Thank you, I better go find Mathias now." I leave the hut holding the book close, I'll look through it later. I followed the directions Arthur told me and it didn't take long to find him.

I see him looking down at the well as he pulls on some rope that was attached to a bucket, I watch water spill out from it when he pulled it up. He was wearing a black cloak with a large hood to block the sun from hitting him. I walk over to him and gently tapped on his shoulder, he turns around and looked surprised to see me. "Lukas? What are you doing up shouldn't you be resting?"

"I'm fine, besides you promised you'd spend the night with me during the red moon we can't do that while I'm lying on a table." He nods then looks me up and down, his facial expression was strange. "Something wrong?"

"Are you in a dress?" He asks smirking slightly.

"It's not a dress, Arthur gave it to me to wear he said most people around this part wear this." I blush looking down at the book in my hands. I feel him lift my chin up so I was looking at him again.

"I'm sorry, I'm just teasing you. I know I saw many wearing it, they said it's a common outfit even for men. You sure you're feeling well enough to go walking around during the red moon?" He grabs my hand leading me to a small stump, he sits down and pulls me on to his lap which I gladly accept his offer. I wrap my arms around his neck and smile.

"I'm fine, you worry too much. If I don't feel well I'll tell you alright?" I feel him wrap his arms around my waist and sigh.

"Fine, the village has a celebration just like yours if you want we can join in with the festivities." He offers.

"Sounds nice, just let me put this book in one of our bags and we can head in to the village." He looks down at the book as if he just noticed it.

"Where did you get that?" He asks picking it up from my lap.

"Arthur gave it to me, said it'll help me learn more magic and how to control it." I take it from him it's not that I didn't trust him I just didn't want anyone looking at it before I did.

He just looked away, I climb off his lap to let him get up. We start walking back to the village not saying a word to each other which was strange because he only stays quiet when he's upset. I hold the book tightly against my chest as I look down at my shoes, I didn't want him upset today since it was the red moon tonight. I wanted this to be perfect, he's probably mad at me for just taking the book out of his hands.

I look up at him, he was just looking forward with a serious expression on his face. "H-hey, sorry for just taking the book from you but, I just don't want anyone reading before I do." I explain In hopes he understands.

He just nods and continues walking, "Did I do something else wrong?" I didn't understand.

He shook his head and finally looked over at me, "Don't hang around Arthur anymore."

I frown still not understanding, "Why? He did nothing wrong." I hear him growl so I look away. I didn't want to see his eyes turn red, I was really getting tired of that color. I suddenly realized something though while we were walking, I knew what was wrong. "Could it be, you're jealous?"

I gasp as I'm pushed roughly against a tree, I see I'm face to face with him. "And if I am?"

"W-well, if you are that's fine just don't take it out on me. You have nothing to be jealous about." I inform him.

He smirks and looks down, "I hope not, but I can't help it. I don't want anyone close to you other than me."

I blush staring in to his eyes, I thought he was joking again but the way he was looking at me said otherwise. "My brother is the only exception."

He nods, "But no one else, you'll soon realize I don't like to share. You're mine and no one else's."

"I'd like to know what brought this up though, you were fine a few minutes ago." I watch him look down at the book. "This, is this what caused it?" I ask lifting it up to his face.

He nods, "I haven't been able to give you anything yet, I don't like him giving you gifts especially since I have nothing to give you." He muttered glaring at the book.

I couldn't help it, I started laughing. "I-I'm sorry but, it's just a book! I'm not going to run off and be with Arthur because of some book on how to use magic." I sigh and set the book down on a rock.

I wrap my arms around his neck and moved closer pressing myself against him. "Lukas, we shouldn't do anything right now. It's getting late and it's almost dark out, I don't want the hood falling off me until then."

"Well, let's stay here for the night. It'll be nice and quiet, just the two of us doesn't that sound romantic?" I practically purr.

He glanced away as he placed his hands on my waist, "I'm not sure, it's safer closer to the village."

"Please? We don't usually get alone time and now is perfect for that." I try to convince him since I know he can be stubborn at times.

It seemed to have worked because he sighed and held me closer, he looks up at the sky and saw the sun was going down. I smile happily as I rest my head on his chest, I couldn't wait for the red moon to appear now that I have my soulmate it'll be nice to enjoy the moon for once. Once the sun was fully down he removed his hood and looks down at me, a few minutes later I watch as the blueish tint starts to turn red. I look down at my hand just curious to see if anything would appear, but nothing happened. I did see though Mathias grab my hand with his gloved one, he brings my hand to his mouth and kisses it. I blush staring in to his eyes once more, with the red tint of the moon they looked purple. I could tell tonight was going to be perfect, nothing could ruin it for us.

I cough a bit when I felt my throat go dry, Arthur had said that'd be a side-effect from the antidote but I thought that was over with. Mathias looked down in concern and gently pushed me away from him. "I'll go get you some water."

"N-no I'm fine, just give me a minute." I choke a little but I could moisten my throat with my saliva, it wasn't too bad.

He shook his head, "I'm going to get that water from the well, I'll be right back." I watch him quickly walk off to grab the bucket of water.

I continued to cough but it wasn't as bad as before, I really didn't need the water because I knew in a few minutes it would stop. I should go after him and tell him I'm fine now.

Water, he needs water. I don't need him back on that table knocked out for another week, we don't have the time for that and I don't have the patience. It was hard enough when it happened the first time I don't want it happening again, I don't care if it isn't that bad he's still coughing. I make my way to the well, the bucket I had lifted earlier was back in the well strangely. I could have sworn I left it safely on the ledge, there was no way it could have fallen by itself. I shiver feeling a cold wind blow past me, strange I don't get cold anymore. I haven't been cold since I was turned in to the monster I am today. I put the hood back over my face for warmth, I start pulling on the rope again so I could get that damn bucket back up as quick as possible so Lukas could have some water. As I was pulling it up I felt another cold wind but this one was stronger and colder, I felt like it went through my body oddly enough I felt weak. I stop pulling on the rope and stood there for a moment to regain my energy, what was going on here? I shut my eyes feeling a sudden wave of emotions hit me, I felt gloomy, frightened, even happiness. Something was seriously off and I didn't like it, I should get back to Lukas it's probably happening to him too.

As I turn around though to walk back to Lukas I see something in front of me, not just something it was a woman. She was looking down, I could tell she was pale, her hair though was almost like gold even if I couldn't see her face I felt she was beautiful. She was wearing a white dress, she almost looked like she was glowing. Finally, she slowly looked up and when she did I didn't expect to see what I saw. I felt my stomach drop, this wasn't real something must have happened to me and I'm now dreaming. I step back but realized my backside hit the well so I couldn't move far, the girl begins walking towards me. This couldn't be her, it's not possible she's dead she died with her family years ago. What kind of sick joke is this!? I clench my teeth fighting back these strong emotions, the depression hitting me the hardest. The woman was now right in front of my face, she smiles up at me. I still can't believe it's her someone must be playing a cruel joke on me, and when I find out who they're dead.

I watch as her hand moves up to my face, she gently strokes my cheek and giggles. "It's been a long time, too long. You've changed so much." There was sadness in her voice.

I glare at her and stepped away, "Who are you, I know you're not her so tell me who you are and I may spare you." I growl hearing my voice shake, this wasn't like me.

She smiles sadly as she brings her hand back to her side, "Do you not believe it's me?"

"No, I don't it's impossible for you to be here right now!" I shout but she just smiles even more.

"it's not impossible, Ivan's spell has made many impossible things possible and this is one of them. You do know how the spell works after you've found your soulmate don't you?" she asks titling her head slightly.

Damn it she used to do that when she asked me a question all the time. "I do, you are given great gifts if you chose to stay with your soulmate. If you chose to abandon or hurt them you are punished."

She nods, "You chose to stay, which I'm glad you did because from what I have seen he has made you happy." She frowns looking down, "You have been hurting for so long and it upset me to see you in so much pain."

I look away, "Oh yeah? If it's really you, how come you haven't shown yourself before?" I ask looking back at her. Her eyes were that same green color I always loved.

"I wasn't able to, you have not been given your gift until now. But it is true, it's me and I have been watching you since that fateful day." She slowly brings both her hands up and wraps her arms around me. "I've missed you so much."

I feel her gently pushing me down so I was now on my knees with her, "I can't believe this is happening…" I whisper, finally wrapping my arms around her as well but to my despair it goes right through her. "I-I can't touch you!?"

She looks up at me sadly, a few tears in the corner of her eyes. "This is the dark side of the spell, all things come with a price."

"No…I knew this was some cruel trick!" I grab fists full of my hair looking down at the ground. "This isn't fair, after so long I-…I just want to be able to touch you, hold you, anything…"

"I know, but I am able to touch you and I know you can feel it. Let me help you through this." She whispers as she holds my hands moving them away from my hair. "I love you."

My eyes widen when I hear her say that, I knew she loved me we have said those words to each other many times but this time it's different. I remember I have Lukas waiting for me, I can't say it. "You know I feel the same, but I can't say it. I have someone now and you know that."

She smiles and nods, "I know, and I understand. I'm happy you've found him all I've wanted for you was to be happy since my death."

I didn't know what to think about all this, "I don't know what to say…"

She just smiles and looks up at me, "You don't have to say anything, my time is almost up here so I want you to promise me something."

"Anything, what is it?" I ask wrapping my arms around her though I know I couldn't touch her I still held them there so it seemed like I was holding her.

She laughs softly, "When you remember me I don't want you to be sad anymore, all the memories we have together I want them to make you happy." She leans closer, "Like when we'd go swimming by the river, or we'd ride our horses…. Our special spot where we'd go to get away from everyone."

I shut my eyes listening to her as she spoke, all these memories being brought up hurt my chest because I know they'll never happen again. "I-I'll try."

She hugs me, her grip felt tight. I open my eyes to see her glancing back, I wondered what she was looking at but when I looked up I saw nothing. She was smiling though, and strangely she whispered something in that direction but I couldn't make it out. It sounded like, "Take care of him."

She looks back over at me and suddenly I felt her lips on mine, my eyes widen and to my surprise a few tears fell down my face. I'll never feel this again, we'll never share another kiss after this, it's our last one. She pulls back and wipes her eyes as well, "I have to go now, please take care of yourself."

Before I could say anything else I watched as she disappeared. I was alone again. I glance in the direction she was looking before and I knew exactly what she was looking at now, or should I say who she was looking at.

This can't be happening; did I just watch Mathias kissing his dead fiancé!? I was going to head back to the spot he left me at but when I took a step back a twig snapped. I see him look up, he saw me I can tell. He looks guilty, shocked, hurt. I watch him slowly get up, he wipes the dirt off his armor and starts walking towards me. What do I do? Pretend I didn't see anything, or do I tell him I saw everything? I'm scared, is he going to leave me? I can't figure out the look on his face and what it means. As he finally stands in front of me I expect him to yell, or even scream but he did nothing. He was staring down at me with that same expression on his face.

"…I-I saw everything." I spoke softly though my voice was shaky.

He looks down at his shoes, "I know, she saw you. I thought I told you to stay."

"I was getting worried, you were taking a long time and-" I was cut off when I feel his arms around me, his grip was tight almost painful.

"I'm glad you didn't listen… I probably wouldn't have been able to get up if I hadn't seen you." His voice sounded strained as if he was holding back something.

I slowly wrap my arms around him, "You know…it's alright to cry, it's not just humans that have emotions."

I hear him force out a laugh, "Heh, look at you trying to lecture me." He goes quiet for a moment then finally speaks up. "Can I hold you? Just for a little bit, I want to feel you." He kneels bringing me down with him.

"Alright…" I agree and let him hold me, I feel him hide his face in the area between my neck and shoulder. Though the position was uncomfortable I allowed him to stay like this.

It was quiet, it felt like we were sitting there for hours though it was only ten minutes. We haven't spoken he just held me. I wanted to break the silence but I didn't know what to say. Though as usual it seems he knows exactly what to do. "I love you." And just like that he surprises me once again.

"What did you say?" I ask wondering if I heard him wrong.

"I love you, I chose you I wanted you not her." He pulls back so I could look at his face. "I want you, and only you."

"O-only me?" I ask in disbelief, I was so worried he'd leave me for her but he chose me?

He nods, "She accepts that, she actually rather I be with you. She knows you make me happy."

"But you kissed her-" I say my voice cracking at the end.

He nods, "One last time was all I wanted, but now- now I just want you and I'll make it up to you as if that kiss never happened."

I look down, "How will you do that?"

He lifts my head up using his index finger and thumb lightly gripping my chin. He pressed his forehead against mine and smiled. "If you'll allow it, I want to make love to you under the red moon"

 **_Yep this is the warning_**

I let out a shaky breath of air, I didn't know what to say what do you even say after someone says that!? He chuckles and kisses me, "I'm going to take your silence as a yes, and if you don't want to just tell me to stop at any time and I will." Once he said that he lays me on the ground.

I feel him kiss my lips then he starts leaving small kisses down my jaw, to my neck. It felt nice, I'll admit but I was nervous. "W-wait, um… we can't do it on the ground like this. We'll get dirty." I say trying to stall.

He looks down at me then after a moment he nods but instead of getting up he unties my cloak and spreads it out underneath me like a blanket. "There, now you won't be touching the ground."

He goes back to kissing me, he's being so gentle. I feel his hands roaming my body, his touches are as light as a feather it felt strange coming from him. I never knew he could be so gentle, it's almost as if he's trying not to break me. I watch him pull back, he was taking his armor off I hear it clanking loudly as he throws it to the ground. He smiles down at me it wasn't teasing or fake, it was one of those rare smiles he shows me. The one's that show he's still able to be happy, and I'm glad I'm the only one he shows them too.

He leans down so we were face to face, "You look nervous." He whispers in my ear. I feel him slip his hand underneath my shirt, he felt cold.

I flinch at the touch and looked away, "You're my first, plus we're doing this where anything could happen."

He chuckles, "You'll be fine, I won't let anything happen to you. And as for me being your first, I'll be gentle so no need to worry about that either." I feel his hand moving up to my chest as his free hand moves up to my face cupping my cheek. "I love you."

He gently moves my head so I'm facing him, "Mathias…"

He chuckles and moves down to my neck, "I could bite you again, if you want. It'll make you less nervous."

I stare up at the sky trying to stay calm, "If it will help, I don't mind." As I spoke I could see my breath, it was still winter so the cold weather hadn't gone away.

The only thing keeping me warm was Mathias's body heat and my cloak that was on the ground, a few moments of silence went by and I had thought Mathias decided to stop but that idea soon went away when I suddenly felt something prick my neck. I gasp, my body instinctively trying to pull away but Mathias made sure to keep me close so I didn't end up hurt. I could feel that warm feeling like before, it was spreading quickly. I knew now he was sucking my blood, it probably gave him pleasure to taste it because I could hear him let out an approving moan. I feel my eyes watering slightly; all his touches began to feel Pleasant even his fangs were affecting me. He pulls back removing his fangs from my neck, I could feel a drop of blood running down but he licked it up.

I stare up at him with half lidded eyes, he was just smiling down at me. I feel the warmth moving down my body more specifically between my legs. "M-Mathias, it feels weird.." I say in between panting.

He nods and leans down to kiss me, "It will at first but I'll make sure it'll feel really good, once I know the venom takes full affect I'll start." He smirks lightly tugging at the bottom of my shirt, "I'll be removing all this though so that it's easier to get to you." He paused for a moment, "Is that alright?"

I nod tugging at his pants, "I-If you start taking your clothes off too…" he just chuckles.

A few seconds later he was slipping my shirt off, I blushed looking away he didn't bother moving my head back this time instead he went straight down to my body and started nipping and sucking in different places. My shoulder had a few bite marks while he started sucking on my chest I am sure there will be marks left there and will stay until the next morning. I gasp twitching slightly when I suddenly feel him bite down on my nipple, it wasn't a light bite either. I feel my body twitch trying to move away but he held me in place. I shut my eyes, the venom was moving throughout my whole body and I couldn't think clearly. I feel his hands at the top of my pants and started slowly pulling them down until they reached my thighs. I shiver feeling the cold air hit me, though the cold feeling didn't last long when I felt a hand at the base of my cock. It started moving up and down pumping me slowly.

"Does this feel good?" he asks, whispering in my ear.

I nod, a quiet moan escaped from my lips and it seemed to excite him. His hand moves away from me then I looked up to see he was taking his shirt off, once that was gone he slipped his pants down to his knees. "Y-you're too big!" I gasp staring at what was supposed to go inside me.

He laughs, "I'm sure it'll fit, I just need something to help for the beginning…." He looks around and I had no idea what he was looking for. He frowns looking back down at me, "I don't think we can continue, I have nothing to lube you up and it'll hurt if I don't."

I stare at him in disbelief, "W-we came this far though I can't stop now… you sure it'll hurt that badly?"

He nods and goes to pull his pants up, I sit up and stopped him though. "Lukas, I'm telling you it'll hurt you more than anything."

I shook my head, "I don't care, we're not stopping. You already got me worked up, you even put your venom in me. It'd be cruel to stop now."

He sighs and leaves his pants alone and gently pushes me back down, "Alright, if you say so. But if it's too much tell me because I can't have you in too much pain."

I nod and wrapped my arms around his neck as he gripped my waist. "J-just start off slow."

I hear him sigh once more then I felt something poking at my entrance, I felt my body tremble in anticipation. That is, until I felt something enter me then it was all pain and I felt my whole-body tense up. I scream digging my nails in to his back, he was stretching me past my limits. I've never felt this much pain, I don't understand how anyone could like this! I hear Mathias growl even through all my screaming, I feel him stop moving but the pain was still there.

Mathias looks down at me, "Lukas, I can pull out just say the word. You're screaming and that's obviously showing you're in pain."

I shut my eyes tightly, I feel a few tears fall down my cheeks but I ignored them and I ignored the pain. "N-No, keep going!"

I could tell without looking Mathias was frowning, he still hadn't moved but just as I was about to say something to him I feel him suddenly push in all the way without warning. I was screaming in pain though I felt a volt of electricity throughout my body he had done something and I didn't know what but it felt better than anything that was happening right now. He stopped again and ran his hand through my hair in a soothing motion. He whispered sweet things to me telling me I was going to be alright that the pain will pass eventually. I let out a few sobs as more tears fell, I really should have stopped him before we got to this point but I was too stubborn for my own good. I felt something warm dripping from between my legs, I didn't know what it was but it felt strange and I could tell it wasn't good. I look up and saw Mathias's eyes were dilated. I watch him look down then back up at me, he looked worried.

"Lukas, don't panic it's not a lot I promise but you're bleeding. I think We're done I'm not going to continue…." I feel him start to move but I grab his arm and shook my head.

"U-use that then… I don't care what you use at this moment and that may help more than going dry." I tell him about that weird feeling I had when he entered me all the way and he smirked.

"If I hit that again I'm sure all the pain will disappear behind the pleasure. Just so you know this isn't going to be a pretty sight when we're done." He warmed me though I didn't mind.

I feel him start to move, though just as he was almost fully out of me he pushes back in with a bit of force. I arch my back grunting as I hold back another scream, he hadn't hit that spot and it hurt. He mumbled a quick apology then pulled out again and did the same motion as before though at a different angle. I felt something that time, not the same exact feeling but it felt better than before. He smiles when he noticed the change in me then repeated the motion again this time trying another angle and just like that the feeling came back quickly. I let out a loud moan as my body felt like it was on fire, that feeling was intense and I never knew something like this was inside me. Once he knew where that spot was he continued to hit it as he thrusts in to me with more force and speed. I clung to him accidentally leaving scratch marks down his arms though by the looks of it he didn't seem to mind. As he continues to thrust in to me he leans down and kisses me, he was rough and wasted no time slipping his tongue in to my mouth and fighting for dominance which he easily won.

I move my hips in rhythm with his thrusts allowing him to go deeper and have better aim at my pleasure spot he was hitting. Even though I knew I was bleeding and I would probably have to have Arthur heal me again I didn't care, this moment right here is all I care about. Me and Mathias becoming one, we're finally at an intimate part in our relationship. I could hear myself moaning, no words were coming out just loud moans and a few grunts. My breathing was uneven and my heart was pounding but it was all worth it because the feeling of this was too good. I felt a strange tight feeling in my stomach as we continued, I could tell we've been at it for a while now because the moon was beginning to set. I hear Mathias moaning just as much as I was and his thrusts were becoming quicker and less thought out. It was almost like he was just thrusting blindly and just trying to get pleasure for himself. I could tell we were both close, I was going to cum. I clung to the other tightly as I hid my face in the crook of his neck, the tight feeling I had got worse and just as quickly as it came it went away when I feel myself cumming. It all lands on our chests and stomachs, I feel myself tighten and it seemed to please the other because he moaned loudly and soon released his own load in to me. I feel the warmth of it inside me almost burning, my grip on his loosens and I fall limp on to my cloak panting as I look up at the sky. The sun was going to come up in a hour or two, but right now I didn't care. I hear Mathias grunt as he slowly pulls out, he was panting just as heavily as I was, he looks down and stares between my legs probably checking the damage. I see him grab his shirt and place it near my entrance, I blush when I realized what he was doing. He was wiping away all the blood and cum, I sit up and scoot away from him.

 **(** **ﾉ** **ヮ** **)** **ﾉ** ***:** **･ﾟ** **whoop, no more Smut** **ﾟ･** **: *** **ヽ** **(** **ヮ** **ヽ** **)**

"I can clean myself, no need for your help." He remained silent and looked up at me. "You alright?" I ask as I grab his shirt that he was using and covered myself with it.

He nods and smiled softly, "I love you, I hope you enjoyed what we did." He whispers.

I blush and looked away, "O-Of course I did, I love you too…" I watch him get up and stand over me he was still naked.

"We should find a lake or something, since there is a well I'm sure there is plenty of water nearby." He puts his pants on and stretched. "I won't be long I'll go looking for water and when I find it I'll take you there so you can get cleaned up."

Before I could argue he ran off, I look up at the sky again it was getting brighter didn't he realize that? I sat there waiting anxiously, if he doesn't come back soon he could be in serious trouble. I put his shirt on myself ignoring the stains and stood or tried to, I felt a sharp pain through my lower back and rear. I fall to my knees clenching my teeth, I guess I can't walk. This just makes our situation even worse. I wait there for about a half an hour until he finally comes back, he kneels in front of me.

"There is a lake just a mile from here, I'll take you there and you can get cleaned-" I stop him before he could finish the sentence.

"No, I'll just get cleaned up in the village, we have to find you some shelter from the sun. Look!" I point up at the sky where you could see it was almost time for the sun to come up. The sky was a dark blue but bright.

He cursed under his breath and quickly started putting on his armor and clothes, he looks over at me. "Why aren't you getting dressed!?"

I flinch at the tone in his voice, "I can't really move that well…" I spoke softly

He groans and quickly makes his way over to me, he helps me get on my pants and shirt throwing away his dirty one. Once I was decent enough he grabs my cloak and picked me up. I watch as he gets ready to run to the village though it was too late, my eyes widen as the sunlight begins to shine down and was making its way over to us. I hear him curse again and step back before the light could hit him, his eyes were glowing red as he growls. I didn't have time to say anything when he starts running in the opposite direction of the sunlight.

"Listen Lukas, I don't know where we're going right now or what's going to happen but I need you to stay calm." I frown in concern, the way he was holding me he had no chance of putting the cloak on and the sun was moving quickly so we couldn't stop so we'd have to keep going until we found shelter for the day. I'm worried for him.

 **Yeeahh, bad ending for this chapter I know. I kind of just wanted to get this out because I felt bad for making you wait this long. Hope you enjoyed this, If you didn't like the little smut scene I won't do anymore or if it's just not to your liking I'll try to make it up to you in another chapter. I don't know… anyways I'll try to get the next one done by Friday next week. Sorry for the long wait on this one again.**


	12. AN Again!

p style="text-align: center;"emstrongYess I am over due on the date I'd put up the next chapter but I have a good reason I promise! T-T I was sick, I had to go to the doctors and when I got back I've been sick in bed this past two weeks... I'll have it updated this week and I'll even throw in another chapter this week too so that it'll make up for it./strong/em/p  
p style="text-align: center;" /p  
p style="text-align: center;"strongemSo I am very sorry for the lack of updates, If I don't update once a week I will promise to try and get it updated the next week so updates will be around every other week or every Friday./em/strong/p 


	13. Chapter 11

We're safe, we're okay now and we're safe. I keep telling myself that as I sit in a dark cave hiding from the sun with Mathias. I look outside the cave to see the lake the other had found earlier, it was beautiful the light was shining down on it allowing the blue water to almost look like it's sparkling. I glance over at Mathias who was leaning against a wall with his arms crossed, he was glaring down at his boots. He still had his armor off so I could see how he really looked, well I saw it last night but still. He had a decent built body, he was muscular but not too muscular his armor made him look buffer. We haven't spoken since the sun came up, he looked mad and I was just worried we'd end up fighting if I said anything. I think he's just upset he allowed himself to lose track of time and end up in this situation. I sigh as I pick at a piece of grass in the dirt I was sitting on, I still had a hard time moving my lower back was still hurting and my legs felt weak. I'd heal myself but my magic always ends up messed up after a red moon, it'll last a day or two then go back to normal. The silence was almost suffocating, well almost silence at least birds were chirping. I slowly shift my body so I wasn't sitting on my legs anymore, I flinch when I moved too quickly and felt a sharp pain in my back again. That's when Mathias finally looked up and stared at me, it was the first time he looked at me since he put me down here.

"You alright?" he asks, his voice sounded lower than usual for some reason.

I nod, "I'm fine, just moved too quickly is all… don't worry." He shook his head and walked over to me.

I watch as he sits down next to me, he had no shirt on but at least he had pants. He looks over at me once more and sighs, "Listen… I'm sorry we're stuck here in this cave. I also know you're worried I'm mad at you but I'm not."

I shrug, "it's fine, I expected you to be upset… you hate the fact you can't be out in the sunlight." He reaches over and takes my hand in his own, he lightly squeezes it then brings it up to his mouth and kisses the top of it.

"I know, but It's rude of me to ignore you just because I'm mad. We had just made love last night and now I've been keeping quiet on the other side of a cave for the last two hours." He smiles softly as he plays with my hand moving my fingers around. "You're not in too much pain, are you? It's not fun going dry." He mumbles.

I laugh a bit, "Yes, I realize that now. We probably should have stopped though I don't regret it and I'd probably do it again if we had a retry at it." I lean towards him resting my head on his shoulder.

He chuckles, "I won't allow you to do it again, I'll buy something to help next time."

"Next time?" I ask looking up at him.

He nods looking down at me, "You do wish to try it, again don't you?" he asks now sounding worried.

I smile and nod, "Of course, I just- I didn't expect you to since well… I never know with you. One moment I'm like your whole world the next I'm just dirt on your shoes that you're kicking off."

He looks away, "I already told you, I chose you. You are my world now forever, If you wish I'll treat you like royalty and protect you with my life."

"Mathias… I don't need you to do all that I just want you beside me." I look down, "You and my brother are all I need and when we save him we can all live together here in the forest."

I feel his arms wrap around my body and pull me closer, "We could live in the castle, or do you prefer a small village like the one we're visiting right now?" he whispers to me.

"It doesn't matter to me, we could live in a cave for all I care I just want you two by my side." I feel him curl his index finger under my chin and his thumb in front, he gently moves my head to the side to face him.

"I love you and I'll give you whatever you wish for, though you are not living in a cave." He leans forward and placed his lips on mine, they felt warm.

I shut my eyes and kissed him back, he was gentle but passionate. I was slightly irritated when he pulled away though he came right back with a rougher kiss. I move my hands up and cup his face as I pull him closer. He uses his free hand and wraps his arm around my waist. I smile as I pull back, I wanted to continue but I felt we'd end up going too far. I glance outside the cave and saw the lake again, I really wanted to get cleaned up I felt gross.

He frowns as he pulled away as well, "Everything alright?" he asks moving hair out of my face.

I nod, "Yeah, I just want to get cleaned up that's all. But I can't really walk."

He sighs and I watch as he puts his hand in his pocket, he pulled out a small bottle full of red liquid. My eyes widen realizing that was one of the bottles I made for him. "You kept them?" I ask looking up.

He nods, "A few, I did have to sell some for money. I always make sure to have one on me though."

I smile glad he did keep them, but that also meant I'd be able to walk once I take it. "the way you sounded it seemed like you didn't want them.." I spoke softly as I took the bottle from him and opened it.

He shrugs, "I still don't really need them but they may come in handy like right now." I drank the potion and sighed in relief when I felt it working.

I lean back against the cave wall and smiled a bit, "Thank you, you don't mind if I go clean up now do you?"

He shook his head no, "I'll be right here, not like I can really leave." I can hear the annoyance in his voice when he admits he can't leave. I know it bothers him he's unable to move around in the sunlight.

I sigh and lean down kissing him on the lips, "I'll be right back, who knows maybe you'll enjoy the view." I smile trying to make the situation a little lighter.

He chuckles and kisses me back, "Yeah, I know I will."

I exit the cave and stretched feeling the warm sunlight on me, it felt nice. I look around it was beautiful here, maybe once we save Emil we could come back I wouldn't mind seeing this place again. I make my way down to the water, it was completely clear you could see the bottom without a problem. I kneel and slowly put my hand in the water to test how cold it was, surprisingly it was warm almost as if it were perfect temperature for bathing. I glance back at Mathias who was in fact watching me. I shook my head smiling as I slip my shirt off, I place it down on the grass, the greenest grass I have ever seen. Honestly this place just seems too perfect, the water is beautiful and clear, the grass is greener than ever, the trees are full of leaves not one on the ground, the birds are singing a beautiful song. I had this warm feeling inside me as I look around, it wasn't like Mathias's venom it was more of a happy, relaxed kind of feeling. I take my shoes and pants off, placed them right next to my shirt then finally my underwear. Once I was completely undressed I stepped in to the water, I shivered feeling this strange tingling feeling I didn't know what it was but it felt nice. I go deeper in to the lake until I was up to my chest I quickly put my head underwater just to get my hair wet then I pull back up and look around some more. I start washing off all the dirt and whatever else was on my body I watch as the water in the area I was in started to turn a bit foggy though strangely it disappeared as quickly as it came. I shook my head and chose to ignore it.

Once I felt I was clean enough I began making my way out of the water, just as I was about to make it on to dry land I felt something tugging at my ankle, must be a branch or something? I look down to remove whatever had caught my ankle though to my shock it wasn't a branch or anything like that. It was a hand! I try pulling away and looking around to see who it belonged to though I saw nothing, and to my despair the hand wasn't letting go and I couldn't move. I look over at Mathias, he was already standing up and staring at me I knew by the look on his face he knew something was wrong. I was beginning to panic; the hand was starting to pull and It was strong. I open my mouth to call out for Mathias though nothing came out because I was suddenly dragged, I tripped and landed flat on my stomach my face going straight in the water. I could feel myself being dragged in to the deeper end as well. I try clawing at the ground to stop the- whatever it was from dragging me though it didn't work. I look back at it and saw now a whole body instead of just a hand and it was a woman! I was about to try and push her off me until she stopped dragging me and turned around, I think this was the most beautiful woman I have ever seen. My eyes widen as I stare at her, she just smiles almost too sweetly. I watch her pull me closer staring straight in to my eyes. I shut them tightly when I hear a voice in my head, a female's voice.

 _I can feel your urges, give in and let me help you with them._

I don't understand….

 _I can also feel your doubts, doubts about that man above the water in the cave. For he is supposed to be your true love he also loves another._

He said he chose me though, he said it himself and we even-

 _Hush, I can see what you have done and I am telling you this for your own good. Give up on this man it'll cause you nothing but trouble._

I open my eyes and saw her smiling still, he placed a hand on the side of my face and gently moved me closer until our faces were inches apart.

 _Stay with me… we could be happy together, if you do not like this form I can take another._

I watch in astonishment as he transforms in to another person though this time a man, and just as the woman was he was just as good looking. It almost took my breathe away, I could feel the burning in my chest it almost hurt. I need air. I try to pull away so I could swim up to the surface for some air though the man stopped me and pulled me back smiling.

 _Don't go, you're fine here. You want to stay with me don't you?_

I stare in to his eyes and saw they were a golden color, almost mesmerizing I watch as he moves in closer. We were once again inches apart I suddenly felt a soft warm feeling on my lips, he had moved in on those last few inches and was now kissing me. My chest was really hurting now though I couldn't pull away. Without meaning to I gasp for air though all I got was water which made me panic because now water was filling my lungs and I really couldn't breathe. I choke on the water and tried swimming up to the top though the man held me down again this time he was frowning.

 _Stay, all will be alright…._

I shook my head no and tried pushing him away it wasn't working, now the man was getting angry. He held me tighter and I heard his voice I could hear the anger in it and it almost sounded like a growl.

 _You will stay!_

My vision was going away as I was starting to just see black, my chest felt like it was on fire and I couldn't escape. I shut my eyes waiting for it all to end, though giving one last try to escape I felt a tinging throughout my whole body I try using this sudden energy to push the man away. Though I didn't feel him I open my eyes and saw I had put up a shield. The man growled and tried scratching at it so it'd break though nothing worked. I used this to my advantage and swam up. Nothing is that easy though he tried coming after me again, he was swimming fast! I manage to make it up enough to take a gasp of air and cough up some water though I was pulled down just as quickly. I tried kicking at the man though nothing worked, I glare at him then summoned my shield again this time without thinking and it pushed him away. I make my way back up to the surface again trying to get to dry land. Just as I was about to reach it the man jumps on top of me and pins me down. The water was shallow enough so I could look up without being completely underwater. The man was growling, his eyes no longer gold but black.

I panicked and summoned my shield again, though instead of pushing him away I swung it and to my horror I hit him. It didn't end how you think, the edges of the shield are sharp like a blade so as I swung it I watch as the man's head falls off right away his body turned back in to the woman I saw before. My eyes widen and I scream covering my eyes, I didn't want to see or believe I had just killed someone. I cough and gasp as I continue to panic also trying to get air back in to my lungs and water out. I pull at my hair trying to get the image of what happened out of my head, I look up and saw leaves starting to fall from the trees and the place didn't look as pretty. I hear yelling from a distance I ignored it and put my clothes on I caught a glance at what I had done again and felt like I was going to be sick. I stumble around as I make my way back to the cave coughing and letting out a few sobs. I fall to the floor of the cave once I was inside and right away I felt arms around me, I look up and saw Mathias. He pulled me close and I hear him whispering in my ear.

"I'm so sorry, you're alright, relax nothing will hurt you anymore." I ignored him and continued coughing up some water.

"I-I killed someone!" I sob covering my face with my hands.

I hear him sighs and hold me tighter, "It was a siren, yet another creature of Ivan's-"

"I don't care who or what it was, I just killed- I killed someone! That may not be a big deal to you but I've never killed anything before!" I shout pulling away. "You may be cold hearted enough to kill without a second thought but-but I just…. I-I never want to hurt anyone seriously, nor have I ever w-wanted to kill."

"Lukas, in this forest I told you…. You're either killed or you kill first." He reaches out for me again though I slap his hand away and glare at him.

'You're sick, and cold hearted. Do you even feel bad about killing things, have you ever felt bad about it!?" he goes silent, of course!

I shook my head and stand up, "Where are you going?" he shouts as I make my way out of the cave again.

"I'm heading back to the village, I don't want to be in here with you…" I leave the cave and don't even bother glancing back at him. I storm off and found the path we took to get there meaning the village can't be too far away.

I wipe my face getting rid of the tears, first I'll grab the book Arthur gave me that I left on that rock then I'll head back to the village. As I make my way down the path I do in fact see my book. I pick It up and held it close, I look down at it as I sit down on the rock to take a moment to rest. I don't understand, why would he act like it's no big deal killing someone. He knows I've never killed anyone and the fact he'd look right at me and say you're either killed or you kill it's sick. I put the book on my lap and cover my face with my hands, he can't be that cold hearted, can he? I know he's a nice guy, he couldn't have always been like this. I've been learning so much about him lately and I fell for him right away I never stopped to learn about the person he is now. I was more focused on the human side of him, what he was like in the past. Do I even like the person he is now or do I love the person he was before and the thought of him being that way with me? I shook my head and got up, I can't be thinking about this right now I got to find the village. I grab my book that I dropped and started walking down the path again.

I look around the forest as I make my way back to the village, it's a lot creepier when Mathias isn't around. At least I have a shield I can summon now for protection and apparently as a weapon too… an image of the girl I had killed flashed before my eyes I cover my mouth trying not to be sick. I'm not a killer, I'm not like Mathias I can't go killing people without a second thought, I can't just kill in cold blood. I snapped out of my thoughts when I heard voices they were coming closer, I hid behind a tree in case it was an enemy. As I hid the voices grew closer and closer until I could hear them clearly behind the tree.

"I can't believe Arthur sent us to go search for them… Mein gott this is unawesome!" my eyes widen hearing Arthur's name so they are from the village.

"Si, but we are the best trackers- like right now I smell one of them." I cringe, do I really smell that badly?

"Ja? Where are they then Mr. I'm a better tracker!?" I moved slightly so I was hidden better by the tree and a few bushes. I thought I was good until I accidentally stepped on a twig.

Right away it didn't take long for them to find me after that, two tall guys staring at me one was smiling the other didn't seem interested. The smiling guy had dark brown hair, tan skin and green eyes he'd be the type of guy all girls swoon over in the village I'm from. The other guy who was now walking away talking to some yellow bird on his head had white hair, was pale and red eyes. I've never seen anyone like him before. The smiling guy reached his hand out for me to take though I wasn't going to. Honestly, I don't care who they know or where they're from I'm not going with two strangers.

"Por favor, come with us we'll take you back to the village. Do you know where your friend is?" he asked speaking softly as if I'd run off which I was thinking about doing.

"My friend? Oh, Mathias… He's in a cave, he's fine don't go after him he'll be back in the village around night time." I told him though he just laughs.

"Arthur sent us, wanted to make sure you two are alright since you never came back last night." I glare at him still wanting proof.

"How do I know you're not lying? Why would he send you two, no offence you don't look like someone people would send for a search party." The smiling guy just smirked.

"Well, we all have our secrets in this forest. Oh by the way my name is Antonio, this is Gilbert- oh, he wandered off.. well we'll see him in the village I'm sure." This time without offering he grabs my hand and pulls me out of the bushes and on to the path.

"H-hey! Let me go, I can walk by myself and I don't need your help!" I shout trying to pull away.

"Si, I'm sure you can but Arthur will be really mad if I don't take you back…" He continues to pull me down the path through at least he was being gentle about it.

I stayed quiet the rest of the walk no point in complaining when I couldn't do anything about this. We had finally made it to the village an hour later and right away Arthur ran up to me though I didn't know what to expect since I was surprised when he hit me off the head with the book he gave me.

"Bloody hell, I told you to be careful you're still not fully healed yet though what do you do!? You stay out all night with that damn vampire of yours!" He continues to shout at me though I wasn't listening to most of it.

I glance back to see Antonio awkwardly making his way out of the hut but Arthur stops him, "Don't you go anywhere, you still owe me a favor for destroying my plants!" Arthur shouts once more.

Antonio whines and his shoulders slump as he looks down, "But Arthur, I couldn't control myself it was a full moon and-"

"I don't want to hear any buts, you and Gilbert are going to keep guarding the village because I've heard more sightings on Ivan's wolves." Arthur crosses his arms glaring at Antonio who sighed and reluctantly agreed.

Once Arthur kicked Antonio out to guard the outer part of the village he walks over to me and started questioning why I was out so late. It was kind of annoying considering he's not my mother and I barely know him. Though he's treating me like we've known each other for years. I explained to him what happened until the moment we got back and he was surprised to say the least. He had me sit down so he could check for any wounds though nothing was there.

I lean back and looked at him once he was done examining me. "So, why are you acting so worried?" I ask as I quietly flip through the pages in my book.

He sits down next to me and sighs, "Long story, one I am not up for telling you right now. You need rest, I'll wake you when your little vampire comes back."

I frown but nod, no point in arguing with him it won't end well. I'll find out what's wrong with him eventually. I shut my eyes set the book down, the chair was rather comfortable so I easily fell asleep. I slept for a few hours until night fall, probably a little longer considering it must have taken Mathias a bit longer to get to the village than I thought because once I woke up it was almost pitch black out. I was woken up by yelling and growling, Arthur was shouting at someone to stop fighting while more growing came from outside. Sounded almost like an animal, I slowly sit up and walked towards the opening in the hut, I peeked from behind the wall and watched what was happening. My eyes widen at what I saw.

Mathias was clutching his arm growling; his eyes were bright red and his fangs fully out. The guy from earlier that was with Antonio was growling as well though he was crouched down and his eyes were yellow and I saw claws coming from his hand and he had larger fangs than Mathias. I quickly step out of the hut and ran over to Arthur wanting to know what was going on.

"What's going on!?" I shout gasping when I watch the white-haired guy lunged at Mathias baring his claws and fangs.

Thankfully Mathias dodged it, he grabbed the guy slamming him down on the ground I cringe hearing a yelp when I looked back at what was going on I notice a blonde-haired man now coming in between them, he was wearing glasses and was speaking rather quietly.

"Gilbert s-stop, this isn't like you." I think he was shouting I can't tell.

Gilbert growled standing up straight and pushing the blonde behind him protectively, "He works for Ivan, he probably has a group coming here as we speak. We can't trust him!"

I hear a woman shouting, "Lock him up!"

"Chain him down, he can't get to Ivan if he's chained to the ground!" a man yells.

I shook my head at how stupid these people were. "Stop, he's not the bad guy here!" I shout stepping in the middle of the crowd. "Sure he may be heartless sometimes… and a bit of a hot head but he's actually a good person-"

"He brainwashed him! Arthur don't allow such a dangerous person to walk around the village!" I look over at Arthur he was looking between the crowd and Mathias.

He sighs walking over to us, "I'm sorry Lukas, if I don't there will be chaos in the village and I need to keep order so everyone remains safe." My eyes widen watching as he summons chains and cuffs Mathias's hands together.

Gilbert smirks walking over to him and yanked hard on the chains causing Mathias to fall to his knees. "Come on leech." He yanks him up as Mathias growls at him.

I try to run after them but someone holds me back, Arthur. "Let me go, he didn't do anything wrong!"

Arthur sighs, "I know, I know he didn't but I have to keep the order in the village and this is the only way. I'll try to release him as soon as I can but- it'll be hard."

Mathias looks back at me, he had an apologetic look on his face I don't know if it's because of what's happening now or what happened earlier but what I do know is this isn't fair. Arthur grabs my arm gently leading me back in to the hut, "Come on, you need some sleep. I'll have you visit him in the morning." He whispers to me but I wasn't really listening I kept staring at Mathias watching as he disappeared behind some trees.

Why does stuff like this always happen to us?

 **Yeepp, this one is bad okay sorry. I'll try making a better chapter next time. Hope you at least enjoyed it a little.**


	14. I'm Back! AN

p style="text-align: center;"span style="text-decoration: underline;"emstrongHeeey... been a while sorry for not updating life has been chaotic I'm free now so I will update anything i can as soon as possible I will have a new chapter up tomorrow on this so don't worry and please don't be mad for the really long wait! ^^ I'll start updating this again i promise lol I left you all at a bad ending so I'll make up for it with a really long chapter./strong/em/span/p 


	15. Chapter 12

It's the next morning after that whole incident, I have been yelling at Arthur the whole night demanding he let Mathias out of the cell. that it wasn't fair he be locked up because he's a vampire and works for Ivan, everyone knows he has his reasons i don't know who that gilbert guy thinks he is but I don't like him especially since he's the one who got Mathias locked up in the first place. I sigh as Arthur leads me to the cell they're holding Mathias in, it was a dark cement block with a few cracks in it. I'm surprised he hasn't just broken out of it yet, though i am sure he's just playing nice so I am able to stay here a little longer to heal fully. Antonio was with us, he was the one in charge of bringing food to Mathias. He likes to talk, a lot... I don't think there was ever a time it was quiet with him around. He apparently also has a loud lover, not in a dirty way either. I met him last night he came out of his hut shouting and cursing.

He walked straight up to Gilbert calling him some kind of potato bastard and he needed to stop causing trouble in the village. After a few minutes a guy who looked just like him came running out nearly crying, begging Lovino which is the loud one's name, to stop shouting at Gilbert. Antonio had to hold Lovino back when Gilbert told him to listen to his brother and just get back inside. As you can see last night was a bit chaotic, the only calm one was this guy named Matthew who is apparently, Gilbert's lover. Matthew was quiet and people barely noticed him i barely saw him myself until Gilbert started walking with him. I shook my head trying to refocus on what i came here for, I had to find a way to get Mathias out of this cell so that we can leave the village with Tino and Berwald.

Arthur carefully opened the door allowing me and Antonio to walk inside, i notice Mathias was in a corner hiding from the light that was making its way inside. I put my cloak over the window on the wall then sat down next to him.

"You doing alright in here?" I ask softly as I watch Antonio place his bowl of food down.

Mathias scoffed, "Yeah, I've been through worse than this. Just more annoyed than anything." he sighed leaning back against the wall letting his head rest there. "We shouldn't be here this long... The longer we stay the higher the chance of getting caught or killed. We need to find Ivan before he finds us."

I nod, "I know, I just- no one will agree with me on letting you out...I mean other than Matthew but no one listens to him either except Gilbert, but you know how he feels on the subject."

I look down and noticed his hands were cuffed together. I sighed and picked the bowl up grabbing the spoon, I bring it to his mouth so he could eat. At first he moved his head away but once I glare at him he sighs opening his mouth and starts eating. I repeat the process bringing the spoon to his mouth then let him eat it. Once the bowl was empty i set it down beside him and gave him a quick kiss on the lips. He accepted that with no problem. I move my hand up to his cheek and lightly stroked it, I hated he had to be locked up like this but as of now, there was nothing I could do about it. I watch him shut his eyes and lean towards my hand so I continue to gently stroke his cheek with my thumb.

I hear Arthur clear his throat, I glance back at him giving him a quick glare. "Give us a minute, you have him locked up the least you could do is at least let him see me." I told him, a hint of anger in my voice.

I hear Mathias chuckle as Arthur huffed then shut the door telling us we had just one minute. "You're going to get in trouble if you keep talking back to him, they'll think you're against them."

"I don't care." I told him honestly, "I just want to see you, they're being unfair and Arthur knows it he just doesn't want the village starting a mutiny."

He nods, "It's smart though, he runs the village well and with something small like this.. even though he has the power he does not want to disagree with the whole village it'll just cause even more unnecessary problems."

He brings his hands up to my face pulling me closer so he could kiss me again. "So for now, just go along with it. for me?"

I sigh looking down, "Alright... only because you asked me to, other than that I won't be happy about it." I look up seeing him smiling.

"Shame, I'm locked up though... becuase now I can't have a repeat of what we did last night." he leans towards me to whisper in my ear. "You looked beautiful, and sounded almost like an angel." he spoke softly and I shivered feeling his breath on my skin.

I listened as the chains rattled, "Mathias not now..." I whisper back as he just chuckled again.

"I know... he's coming back." he gently pushed me away so I got up and looked at the door as Arthur opened it.

"Time to go, you were able to visit him but I can't have you staying too long it'd bring up too many questions." He spoke strictly as if he didn't care.

I looked away from him, "I get it, fine." I glance back at Mathias one last time. "I'll see you soon, I promise."

He nods to me, I blushed hearing him whisper he loved me before the door shut. Arthur leads me and Antonio back to the village, people were still speaking about what had happened the night before. I watch as Lovino came marching over to Antonio and hit him on the head with a straw basket.

"Idiota, you said you'd pick the tomatoes last night!" He shouts shoving the basket in his hands.

Antonio pouts looking down at the basket, "But Lovi I-"

"Don't _Lovi_ me, go do what you said you would before I kick your tomato loving ass!" he continues to shout as he pushes him towards their hut.

I look over at Arthur, "They're an interesting couple..." He just nods.

"They've been together a long time, grew up together. Since Antonio can't age he watched Lovino from a child until now, practically raising him."

I stared at him slightly shocked, "He raised him and yet they're together?" He nods once more.

"It's not strange or uncommon here, there are many creatures who have raised or watched as their lovers grown from children to adults. There are people who even are with more than one lover." He smiles slightly, "Everything is welcomed here, well... almost everything. Since Ivan has taken over stuff has become less common."

I frown looking at him, "Has he really done that much damage to this forest?" I ask softly.

He sighs, "Yes, sadly he has. No one even knows where he came from. He just appeared from no where and took over, once the royal family was killed."

I sigh, "So who are you with and how have you been effected?"

Arthur frowns, "I...I had two lovers, Ivan took one saying it was disgusting to have more than one. I do not know where he is or what he has done with him but I can't seem to find

him anywhere." He sighs, "His name was Francis, I have Alfred with me now though we both miss him..."

I felt horrible, all these problems happening all because of one man, everyone is miserable! "Don't worry I...When i go looking for my brother i promise I will try and look for him. I want to help you all.. hearing more about Ivan I want him stopped."

Arthur's eyes widen, "Lukas, i appreciate it i really do but.. you can't fight Ivan he's too powerful even with a hundred men...it doesn't matter how many you have.

He will kill you, and whoever follows you."

I glare at him, "I don't care how powerful he is, he needs to be stopped. So many have suffered because of him and it's not fair!"

Arthur smiles softly, "You were like this when we were younger too…" He spoke quietly but looked away like he was in deep thought.

I blinked and stared at him confused, i didn't understand what he was saying i have never met him before. "What?"

Arthur frowns, "Sorry… I didn't mean to say that, you're not supposed to know." He tries walking away.

"Know what, you said it so tell me Arthur. How do you know how i was as a child?" I was confused and was tired of people not giving me answers. I grab his arm stopping him from leaving.

He sighs, "Sit, you may end up in shock after hearing this…" I listen to him and sat down next to him.

He begins his story, and I am already in shock.

 _It was sixteen years ago we were both five, I used to live in the village with you and your family. We both were practicing our magic. Course we had to because the village wanted to make sure they had us under control so in the future we wouldn't cause any trouble. That's how we met. Me and you were really close friends, we went everywhere together, though we fought a lot we made up quite easily. Anyways to the point, a few years later once we finally reached eighteen an incident happened. Some creatures had escaped the forest and attacked the village, Ivan was with them, he chose many of the magic users in the village for his own army to make it stronger including your mother….. She refused though and he had her killed along with your father for trying to stand in his way. I was there with you that night when you had found them, you wanted to go and find him to get revenge but i had stopped you. You cried a lot and i helped you through it, though for some reason Yao the village leader suspected me of betrayal and suggested that I had summoned the monsters to the village and was going to have me killed you saved me though while i was locked up._

 _You snuck me out and we both agreed, we needed to erase your memory of this though i had made a mistake with my spell and instead of just this night…..I erased everything you knew about me. You had no idea who I was, it hurt me to go but I had to it wasn't safe for either of us. I left you and the village behind finding out secrets i never knew about the village and who runs it. Yao isn't what he seems, he works with Ivan, He gets rid of anyone who he thinks even has the slightest idea of who he is so he can save himself. He's been working for years, everyone in that village is being fooled into thinking they are safe, no one is safe anymore it's all a lie._

He finished the story and I couldn't believe it, "That...no.. that can't be true…Yao he.. He may have wanted me gone because he suspected i brought Mathias but- he wouldn't work for Ivan…"

Arthur shook his head, "He keeps the most powerful the closest, He used to help me and you quite often remember? Everyone here knows about Yao and about the village, i found out only because of Alfred and Francis…."

Lukas looks down, "Is this why you are so protective of me? I found it strange…." I didn't want to believe everything until now was a lie.

Arthur nods, "Yes, you're still a very dear friend to me…. Even if you don't remember." He smiles but looked sad. I could see it in his eyes he felt horrible for what happened.

"Arthur.. None of this makes sense, why would Yao work for Ivan?" If that was the case Ivan had people everywhere watching everyone even...other humans...

Arthur nods, "Because you are the strongest… there are also other secrets about you Ivan and Yao don't want you knowing… your mother was very special, one of the most powerful anyone has ever seen. Ivan wanted her, but she refused and was killed because of it and that is when the village because almost like a prison to keep humans in line so they don't try anything." He looks at me and looked too serious it wasn't like him. "That's why no one is allowed in the forest, that's why Yao takes down anyone who tries to break those rules they don't want you finding out the truth…"

I shook my head, "I don't want to hear anymore… I want Mathias out of that cell now because we are leaving-" There was suddenly screaming coming from outside, and a loud howl.

Tino comes running in, "The mother from those pups are here! She doesn't look happy at all!" Arthur nods and quickly grabs a sword.

"Come on, I'll get Mathias out, come with me it's dangerous for you to be alone i know you can't fight." He grabs my hand and starts dragging me away. "Don't look back! The village can take care of themselves long enough for us to get Mathias."

I ignored him and looked back anyways, I saw two wolves attacking the big one and some magic users chaining the mother down for the other's to attack it. I kept running with Arthur i didn't see anything else that could be dangerous but i stayed with him just in case. Arthur quickly leads me to the cell and opens it up with his magic. It was still light out so Mathias quickly moved out of the way of the light glaring at Arthur until he saw me. I must have looked scared because he quickly ran to me asking what was wrong.

"The mother of those pups you had killed is here attacking the village we need you to help." Arthur explains, looking worried for his village.

Mathias nods understanding, "Lukas stay here with Arthur, I'm not kidding listen to me this time." he said sternly as he takes my cloak putting it on so he could walk around in the sunlight without getting burnt.

I frown, "But I can hel-" he cuts me off, covering my mouth with his hand.

"Stay.." he growled his eyes flashing red showing he was serious and I don't want to find out what happens if I don't listen, then ran off before i could argue anymore.

I huff in annoyance, I can fight too. I want to help, I'm tired of staying on the side while everyone else is risking their lives. It isn't fair, i glance at Arthur who's on guard looking around just in case another one of Ivan's wolves come by. I freeze hearing another loud howl, the sound always making my skin crawl. Arthur quickly covers my ears.

"Don't listen to it, the sound can paralyze you with fear if you're not used to it. That has happened to me many times while i first started living in the forest." My whole body was shaking, he was right, I couldn't move.

The fight continued for a short time, the villagers having the upperhand considering they outnumbered the wolf. With Mathias's help as well, they managed to take it down without too many Arthur knew it was safe, he starts taking me back to the village. He continued to tell me everything was okay but the effects of the wolf's howlin was still there. My hands were shaking slightly and i couldn't concentrate very well. Once we had arrived at the village everyone was in a group checking on each other, i saw a bright blonde haired guy running towards us.

"Arthur, i couldn't find you anywhere i got worried!" he hugs him tightly as i step to the side, I didn't want to get in the way of the two.

Arthur smiles, "I'm fine… don't worry." he kisses the blonde then i realized it must be Alfred, they look like a sweet couple.

Alfred nods, still holding Arthur close. "Guess you took Lukas somewhere safe? Mathias is arguing with Gilbert again those two do not get along very well…Damn you alright dude you look pale?"

I nod, "I-I'm fine…" I realized Mathias is fighting with Gilbert again and quickly make my way to the other side of the village where i saw Gilbert in fact arguing with Mathias. I stood between them glaring at Gilbert. "E-Enough! He helped you all out so stop treating him like the enemy." I shout though, i doubt I looked intimidating considering i was still shaking.

I feel arms wrap around my waist and i was being pulled against someone's chest i don't even have to look to know it was Mathias. Gilbert growled, glaring at the two of us.

"You two have no right being here, for one that leech is working for Ivan and two he obviously brainwashed you in to believing whatever he says! So since Arthur won't do it I'll kick you out my sel-Ow!"

Everyone stared in shocked, Matthew had hit Gilbert off the head with a frying pan. "G-Gil, that's enough… they seem really nice you're just judging them too harshly. No one likes to work for Ivan so i assume he has no choice in the matter, and Obviously Lukas is his soulmate so of course he will agree with him. Please stop trying to cause trouble where it doesn't need to happen."

Gilbert couldn't believe it, Matthew has never done anything like this before, "...Fine… I still don't trust him." He sounded displeased to have to agree with him but it doesn't seem like he's one to argue with his lover.

Matthew smiles kissing him softly, "I'm sorry… I'll check your wounds for you, Come on." he grabs his hand leading him away. He did feel bad for hitting him but he knew it had to be done.

I look over at Mathias, "You alright? I was worried…. It sounded horrible here…" I saw his eyes were blue, he was calm good.

Mathias nods kissing me, "I'm fine, and so is everyone else it was only one so it was no issue. Everyone is used to fighting these wolves off. Maybe we should talk though now that I am free and we have some time to relax before we leave which we are doing tonight."

I nod leaning against him holding on tightly, he picks me up carrying me to a small tent i assume what he has been using as a small shelter for himself while i was with Arthur. He sets me down on a sleeping bag and sits beside me. "About what had happened at the lake…. I'm sorry, I forgot you haven't been raised in the forest and sheltered from all this so you've never had to do anything like that before. I should have been more compassionate.. Though i think i have forgotten how to feel that in a long time…"

I look away, "It's fine… I shouldn't have yelled at you like that, I just- It was horrible for me… even if she was trying to kill me I've never hurt anything before…" An image of the lady flashed in my head again.

He nods holding me close, "I'm sorry… I'm still learning, though I'm not doing a very good job am I?" He sounded a bit worried which was strange for him.

"No, you're doing fine really you are...I wouldn't find it normal if you just suddenly changed over night i know it takes time especially all you've been through…. I'm sure once Ivan is gone you'll be able to be yourself easier as well." I lean against him so my head rests on his chest.

He smiles kissing the top of my head, "I love you…" he whispers in my ear softly, i felt his breath against my skin making me shiver.

"I love you too, so much…" I feel him kiss down my neck and stop at the usual place he does when he wants to feed. Right between where my shoulder and neck meet. "I-If you want my blood you can just say so…" I say quietly.

He shook his head, "No, last time you couldn't handle my poison so i won't do it again. Not now, you're still weak from the pup's poison and everything else that's been going on." I can't believe how much he worries…

I sigh, "Alright… I won't argue this time." That made him chuckle, which annoyed me because i knew why.

"You, not argue? That's a first…" He teased kissing me once more.

I roll my eyes and glare at him, "Shut up, not everything has to be an argument between us. So where are we heading once we leave the village?" I ask out of curiosity as i get comfortable on his lap.

He thinks for a moment as he runs his fingers through my hair, "One of Ivan's prisons…. He holds all different types of creatures and people there if they refuse to join him or if they are part of someone else's punishment. We could find him there or we could just end up freeing the prisoners and they help us in our quest to take down Ivan. Either way it's a good thing for us."

I nod, "Alright, if that's the plan...I don't want to cause anymore trouble in this village anyways…" I sigh, looking outside the tent and saw the clouds in the sky. "You think Emil could be in one of those prison cells…?" I ask hopefully as I hold his hand our fingers intertwined together.

"No, he would be with Ivan himself for safe-keeping because he is so important he doesn't want anything happening to his leverage on the situation." He looks down at me, "I'm sorry…" He did in fact sound like he felt bad for me but I didn't need that.

I look away, "It's..It's alright… i was just getting my hopes up is all, it was foolish to think he would let him out of his sight. He seems smarter than that." I had just hoped he was there.

Mathias nods in agreement, "He is smart, very smart...That's what will make him even more difficult to beat." He held my hand tighter, he usually does seem more tense when talking about Ivan or the past. He's possibly just remembering something.

I bit my lip as i start to worry about Emil again, "I..I think I'm going to sleep for a bit, wake me up when it's time to start heading out.." I move around so his arm was now wrapped around me and i was still holding his hand.

He nods wrapping his other arm around me and pulling me close so i could lay on him, instead of the ground. "Don't worry… I will do anything i possibly can to make sure your brother gets out of this alive and well…" He promised, the tone in his voice allowing me to believe him.

I hold on to him tightly, "Thank you…" that was the last thing i said before falling asleep.

I was woken up to someone gently shaking me and calling my name softly, I whine rolling over not wanting to wake up just yet, I was exhausted. All this traveling could affect anyone who isn't used to it. The person trying to wake me up sighed then suddenly i was lifted out of the tent. I gasp looking around now fully awake and saw it was Mathias who was carrying me. He chuckles giving me a quick kiss obviously noticing how shocked i was. He seems more playful than when I first met him, it was kind of nice.

"Sleep well?" he asks smirking a bit. It annoyed me a little, that smirk of his I don't know why but it annoyed me.

"I was until you woke me up… are we leaving?" I ask rubbing my eyes then glanced around not really caring if he carried me at this point.

He nods, "Yes, but it seems we have a few more people to add to our small group since they wish to help."

I look up at him confused, "Really, who?"

He motions over to where our horses have been staying and I look over, I saw to my surprise Arthur and Alfred. I quickly get down from Mathias's arms and run over. "What are you doing, shouldn't you stay here!?" I ask a bit worried for the two.

Arthur sighs, "Matthew will take care of the village while I'm gone, I want to help you Lukas. I left you behind before i won't do it again. Alfred is only here because well… He worries for me and doesn't want me going alone." He smiles softly, glancing at Mathias. "Even your hot headed soulmate said it was okay for us to come if we really wanted to considering the more people to fight Ivan the better and where you are going Alfred used to work there so he can help get you through."

Alfred nods, "Yep, that place sucked man… I managed to get out of there but course that's when we lost Francis…" He looks down but you could see the dispare on his face.

Arthur sighs placing a hand gently on the other's arm, "I told you it wasn't your fault….Anyone would have wanted to get out of there Ivan is a cruel man. I don't think Francis blams you either." He spoke softly to comfort the other.

Alfred just looked away, I sighed. "Alright, if you really want to...Maybe you can help with my magic too?"

Arthur chuckles, "Course, that's another reason we are going. Three vampires cannot teach you how to use your magic properly I'm surprised you managed to even learn to summon a shield in these conditions." He said as if it were a big deal, I thought I did pretty good...

I smile, "Alright, just make sure you're careful…" I was worried for them, I don't know how well Arthur can fight and if what he had said before is true and he was my friend at one time I don't want to lose him before i find out more.

He nods, "Of course, I have Alfred with me I'll be fine…" He glanced at the other who was talking to the horse.

I nod, "Speaking of that, Is he….human too?" I ask wrapping my arms around myself, it was getting a bit cold around here.

"Hell no dude! Could a human do this!?" My eyes widen as he lifts up a huge boulder that was next to our horses. Arthur just rolled his eyes. I didn't think he was able to hear me.

"He loves to show off his strength, none of us really know what he is and he won't tell us because he thinks it's a fun secret to have… Something about heroes never giving away their true identity. Some nonsense like that…" Arthur huffed crossing his arms obviously irritated.

Alfred laughs putting the boulder down, "Come on Artie, not like it's important. I tell you everything else." He wraps his arms around the angry brit.

I smile a bit at the two, they seem happy together. "Alright, I am going to get ready with Mathias-" I was cut off by someone else.

"Everything is already taken care of, while you were sleeping we got everything prepared." he hands me my cloak. "So don't worry about it, now we just leave. Put that on I can see you shivering"

I put my cloak on and glanced at him, "Why didn't you wake me up to help? I feel kind of bad now, knowing i did nothing…" I already feel useless, I don't need another reason to add to it.

"You needed the sleep and there wasn't really much to do we still had all the supplies from the castle. Come on, you ride with me again and this time try not to get bitten by one of Ivan's wolves." He smirks lifting me on to our horse and I huff going to kick him not to intentionally hurt him though.

He laughs grabbing my leg before i could kick him, "Shut up!" I huff looking away.

He chuckles getting on the horse as well, "I'm sorry, just teasing you again relax…" He sighs getting serious now, "We need to keep quiet once we leave the village, this part of the woods is dangerous." This is where I don't talk as much, though i know he has to be I don't like when he's serious it scares me at times since he can snap any second.

Arthur nods in agreement, "I had just cast a spell around this area in order to keep everyone safe since i moved here so that's why there rarely is an incident like the wolf that appeared. So everyone will be safe while I'm gone."

I nod leaning against Mathias, "Alright… anything else?" I kept a little space between us in case he got annoyed.

Tino grins moving up with his horse, "Yeah, make it to the Prison alive and stop Ivan." He leans over kissing Berwald, "And make sure we all stay safe…"

I smile, "Alright...Let's get going then." Mathias nods in agreement then a second later our horse was moving and so was everyone else.

At the moment Berwald and his horse was beside Tino's horse, me and Mathias are in front of the whole group, Alfred and Arthur are riding next to each other just like Berwald and Tino but they're in the middle of the group. We are off to the west side of the forest to find one of Ivan's prisons in hopes we find Ivan or possibly allies. Either way we are one step closer to our goal and things are looking okay for now.


	16. AN Updating and Thank you!

_**There we go! Got the chapter up, I'll be updating everything again so no need to worry. Hope you enjoy the new chapter that just came out I was glad to start writing this again. ^^ Sorry it took so long once again, and thank you all who still want to read this. I'll try not to disappear again like that lol**_

 _ **Anyways, I'll stop wasting your time with this. I'll have the next chapter up on Saturday or Sunday. After that though I'll update this every Friday!**_


	17. Chapter 13

It was quiet, and it wasn't a comfortable quiet either. Once we left it all went silent considering Mathias and Arthur had told everyone we needed to remain silent, I didn't like it at all. Mathias looked to serious constantly on guard, Arthur was the same. Alfred was grinning strangely enough and just looking around casually, Tino and Berwald were just doing their own thing but they were still ready to fight if needed and continued to follow everyone. I glance back at Mathias but he growled softly and made me look forward again, I don't understand what I did but it seems I can't even move without him getting annoyed. I saw his eyes were red when i was able to quickly glance at him that means something is wrong I just don't know what. Tino, and Berwald's eyes are the same, Tino's glowing a bright blue and Berwald's just as red as Mathias's. I needed to know what was going on… There were no birds chirping, no wind, no sound at all it wasn't normal especially in an active forest like this. I went to look back at Mathias again but he got even angrier and roughly grabbed my shoulders turning me around so i was facing forward again. It hurt, a lot. I winced rubbing my shoulder and glared down at the ground. This was ridiculous!

I open my mouth to speak, "M-" He quickly covered my mouth as if he knew what i was going to do! I glare at him he just glared back.

I notice we were reaching a cave he motions everyone to follow, once we had reached the cave he got off the horse leaving me to get off myself which annoyed me even more. I mean i know i can do it myself but still what was his problem? I slowly climb off and watch as he looks around the cave probably seeing if it was safe then he glanced back and nods.

Finally Alfred sighs, "About time dude, I didn't think i would ever be able to talk!" He nearly shouts.

Arthur shook his head getting off his horse as well, "Idiot, you know what goes on in those parts of the woods, if we made even the slightest sound we would have been in trouble."

I watched everyone getting off their horses and unpack a few bags so they could eat or relax, I slowly make my way over to Mathias who was unpacking one of my bags probably grabbing me some food and water. "What was with the growling and pushing me back there?" I ask crossing my arms.

He shook his head, "I told you, we needed to be quiet and keep looking forward and you continued to do the opposite. I was getting annoyed, that's my fault." He stood up and hands me some fruit and water. "But if i tell you to do something I expect you to follow what I say so you don't get yourself or anyone else put in danger, got it?" His tone sounded annoyed and demanding, I didn't like it at all.

"I'm not as worthless as you think, I can protect myself. I wouldn't put anyone in danger either. Just because you were some ex knight doesn't mean anything it doesn't mean you're better than me either!" I huff shoving the food and water back in his hands. "Okay I should have kept looking forward but you don't have to act like I'm some burden…."

He growled, "I'm not, and not once did i say that so don't put words in my mouth. But you don't follow directions and your listening skills are of that of a toddler. These woods are dangerous which i have told you many times over and over again but you never seem to listen. I don't want anything to happen to you and if you continue like this I don't know how many more times I can continue to keep you safe because something is bound to happen!"

I look away, he is always like this once we start traveling again, any time we settle down somewhere he's find and treats me well but once we are back on the path he's a whole different person. My eyes widen when he grabs my jaw forcing me to look at him, he's holding on tightly so i couldn't move, any tighter and I may bruise. I glare at him trying to pull away but he held on. He leans in close to whisper to me his eyes glowing bright red, he looked mad.

"Listen to me got it? These woods, especially this part is extremely dangerous…. I do not need an idiotic, stubborn human messing up and getting us all killed got it? At this moment I don't care if I hurt your feelings because you're putting everyone at risk. So keep your mouth shut until i say otherwise." He spoke low and quiet so i heard every word, I didn't like the look in his eyes at all. He had gone back to his old self. Once he let me go I rub my jaw glaring at him. Then he said something that really set me off, "Unless you want your brother to die, I suggest you listen."

I froze and tensed up, but before I could even say anything Arthur comes over and quickly grabs me. "Hey, come on let's get you something to eat… I'm sure you're hungry." He slowly leads me away but me and Mathias are still glaring at each other.

Arthur sighs, "He is right you know, as much as i hate to agree with him. This is a dangerous area, most who come here never come back. He's just worried…. It seems he has a strange way of showing it. I'm sure you two just need some time apart and he'll come and apologize for his actions okay?" I didn't answer I just looked away as I followed him. "Lukas please…"

"Fine, but this isn't the first time he's acted like this… it seems every time we start traveling again he turns in to someone completely different. I don't like it… He had promised me back in the village on the red moon that he will be different and won't be cruel anymore but now look…" I move hair out of my face, the wind has picked up again as I glance back at Mathias who was cleaning up some stuff in a bag he had unpacked.

"I understand, but it makes sense to worry while traveling around here. Trust me I had many issues when i first moved here. If it wasn't for Alfred and...Francis… I wouldn't be here now.." Alfred used to get annoyed with me since I had no idea how things worked around here but now that he understands and I know more he doesn't get as upset with me. Not to mention Francis always calmed him down, he was the calm one in the relationship, still is if we are lucky and he is still alive…" He smiles sadly. "I was hoping… another selfish reason we came, that if we are going to a prison nearby maybe it's possible…. He's there…"

I frown a bit as I look over at him, "Arthur… I..I'm sure he's still alive. It may be possible he's there and you three can be together again." I felt bad for him, I do consider him a friend even before he had told me about our past together so I would like to see him happy.

"It's fine, I'm sorry for bothering you with my issues. You have too much to deal with already." He puts his hood up so he could block his face from the cold. "We will see what happens once we get to the prison, from what Alfred was saying it's not far from here. Maybe a few more miles west, if we time it just right we may make it before sunrise…"

I nod as I sit down on a decent sized rock, Arthur sitting next to me. "Hearing everyone's stories on what Ivan had done to them… it makes me feel horrible. How could one man do all this and not feel bad about it?" I glanced at Mathias once more, this time he was putting the bag back on the horse.

"Because he is a cruel, horrible man. He doesn't care for anyone but himself and that is why everyone fears him. Even his family fears him, except his younger sister. She is just as cruel as him but doesn't have her head on straight, she's on the crazy side. She's more worrying than Ivan but she doesn't have enough power so people don't pay much attention to her, considering she never leaves Ivan's side."

I bit my lip growing worried, even his family sounds dangerous. Who are these people!? Me and Arthur continued to talk until Mathias said it was time to start moving again. I didn't even have a chance to get up when Mathias grabs my arm lifting me off the rock and drags me to our horse. "Get on and stay quiet." He mumbled still sounding annoyed.

I glare at him for a moment then got on the horse and waited for him to get on as well. Once he had gotten on we watched everyone's horses walk over. Mathias tells them all to keep quiet, we were close to the prison and once we got there we will make our plan on how to get in undetected. I remained quiet the whole time not wanting to fight with him again. It didn't take long for us to start moving again. We were back on the path to the prison and I really hope it was worth the ride there because from what Mathias was saying this could be important for us. I didn't bother looking around, or speaking I just stayed still the whole way there.

It took a few hours, my neck was hurting from being in the same position the whole time but I didn't care honestly. I hear Mathias whisper to me that we were here. He stops the horse near some bushes to hide us, then he looks around. "It doesn't seem anyone is here though that can't be right…" He mumbled quietly to himself.

I watch him get off the horse and slowly make his way over, then he used his supernatural speed and suddenly he was gone. I'm sure he was just checking out the prison because even I could tell it looked abandoned. I slowly got off the horse glancing back at everyone else, they all looked concerned. Arthur looked disappointed probably because if this is abandoned then Francis isn't here. I see Alfred trying to comfort him but Arthur moved away looking down. I could see Tino had a strange look in his eyes as well, could he have thought Peter was here? This makes me feel worse, everyone here was hoping to find someone but we came here for nothing. I glance back at my horse but gasp when I saw an angry Mathias.

"The prison is empty!" he kicks a tree hard enough to make it crack. "Any trace of him being there or prisoners are gone other than a few dead bodies! We came here for nothing while Ivan is probably miles away from now! Damn it!" He kicks the tree again this time it snaps in half and I flinch watching it fall to the ground. It was a loud noise and pieces of wood flew everywhere from him kicking it. He had blocked me from all the flying pieces but a piece or two still got me and it hurt.

I look away, I didn't want to see everyone's disappointed faces and watch Mathias throw a fit. Everyone was quiet until Tino spoke up, "Maybe we should camp here for the day… the sun is coming up any minute now it would be dangerous to travel…" I hear everyone mumbling in agreement but they didn't look happy.

Mathias huffed, "Fine, come on then." He leads the horse down to the prison, also grabbing my hand making me follow him as well. I glanced back seeing everyone else but they were all looking down. I hated how Ivan did this to them, all of this misery for nothing.

The entrance of the prison was decently sized, I saw the bars on the windows and doors it was a bit frightening. Mathias leads me inside and I look around but quickly stopped. It was horrible to look at, the walls were red with people's blood I'm assuming, and I bet most of them were innocent. There are a few dead bodies in cells completely forgotten and this is only the first floor. I saw torture devices and it made me sick. Mathias covered my eyes.

"Don't look…. I can see it on your face you're about to be sick. I know a clean room that isn't disgusting." He leads everyone upstairs I try my best to ignore the thought popping in to my head. How many people suffered here? What happened to the other prisoners he kept here?

I whimper holding on to Mathias tighter, I hear him sigh and hold me close. I was about to say sorry for earlier when I hear Arthur scream. "No!" Alfred joined in later.

"Arthur stop, he's dead we-we can't do anything about it. Get up!" I quickly move away from Mathias to see what was going on. I run over and saw the worst sight ever. Arthur clinging to a dead body, he had blonde hair and blue eyes but they were almost grey now… He must have been dead for a while.

Alfred was trying to pull Arthur away who was crying and squirming trying to stay, "But it's not fair! He didn't do anything, why would he- No… He can't be dead...Please…" he whimpers. I cover my mouth looking away once Arthur tried to heal him. I felt bad for him, this must be Francis…

Alfred finally managed to pull Arthur away who was still staring at Francis, I saw Alfred was looking away he looked just as devastated as Arthur but was trying to hide it. I listen to Arthur sobbing loudly as he clung to Alfred hiding his face against his chest. Everyone else had left to give them space but i stood there of course like an idiot. Unable to move, I have never seen anything like this before… I feel someone grab my hand and I look over it was Mathias.

"Come on… let them be…" he spoke softly and gently leads me away. I glance back frowning at how upset they looked, I couldn't get the sound of Arthur crying out of my head. Then I heard someone else crying, Tino.

"If he's dead in that short amount of time Peter must have been gone a long time ago… why did i even think this would end happily!? I got my hopes up and now we are in an abandoned prison with one of our friends dead lovers…" I saw Berwald holding Tino close and tightly, he looked like he wanted to say something and his face showed anguish that he couldn't speak and comfort him the way he wanted to.

I look down as Mathias continues to lead me away, this was probably a bad idea to come here it brought nothing but misery to everyone. I listen as our shoes tap on the stone floor as we walk up some more stairs. He leads me into a small room, it was clean and had no dead bodies in it at all. Once I looked up Mathias held me close running his fingers through my hair comfortingly. He whispers apologies for how he had acted back in the cave. He told me everything will be okay.

"But it won't…. Arthur and Alfred had lost Francis, Tino and Berwald don't even know what happened to their son. What if something happens to you or me, O-Or emil…" I wipe my eyes as I look down, I didn't want him to see me cry. "Why is Ivan doing all this!?"

"Lukas...Listen to me, nothing is going to happen to you, Emil or me okay? You'll get what you want, all three of us living together in the forest like a family okay?" He smiles softly, as he holds me close.

I smile a bit wiping my eyes once more, "Y-Yeah… a family…" I say quietly as I lean against him. "Y-you think… any of this will get better?"

Mathias sighs, "...In time, I do believe it'll get a little better. It'll take a very long time for things to be good enough everyone is happy though I do know it'll never be the same like it used to. Ivan caused too much damage for that." He sits down pulling me on his lap, we were on a small bed it seems like this room was for one of the guards.

I shut my eyes but I could still hear everyone else downstairs, Arthur was still crying, Alfred was trying to calm him down. Tino was still worried, of course Berwald didn't say anything. I could hear Mathias breathing, he was strangely quiet that is until he started speaking.

"...I saw a man in one of the cells… we used to work in the same group when working with Ivan. He hated him just as much as I did, considering Ivan killed his wife and kids. I know he was taken away once Ivan heard he was going to betray him but I didn't expect him to end up in a disgusting place like this. He deserved better, even though I barely knew him… I wish I had taken the time to though." He looks away, I could see that dark look on his face again the one where he is trying to stay strong and deal with everything alone.

I frown reaching up gently stroking the side of his face, "You know you don't have to deal with these problems alone… you can tell me about it, talking makes everyone feel better. You're not alone anymore, I'm here with you now so please let me help you through all of this." I beg, looking up at him pleadingly.

Mathias shuts his eyes almost as if he was thinking, he leans against my hand then grabs it with one of his own, kissing it. He finally looks at me smiling a bit, "You're right...but honestly it's nothing. I suppose once someone you've seen or known is dead you begin to think stuff like, 'Why didn't I get to know him better?' or 'Maybe I could have done something to help and they'd still be alive.' It's rather foolish isn't it?" He chuckles, but looked upset more than he was letting me see.

I frown and shook my head, "No, it's not… it means you still care. Even though you say you've lost all emotions like that I know you still do have them. You're just afraid to show it because you don't want to get hurt again. Once I finally saw stuff about you it wasn't hard to figure you out."

He laughs, "You know… only two people in this world have been able to actually figure me out. For the most part everyone just goes along with what I say or do and doesn't question it. They barely know me as a person but you and…" He trails off as he speaks, looking away sadly.

I sigh, "I know who you mean, but honestly I'm sure many people could get to know you if you let them. Tino and Berwald are your friends I'm sure they'd love to really get to know you in all those years they've been with you." I was going to continue talking when he covered my mouth.

He smiles kissing me, "Eventually, for now I need to stay like this. I can't win against a cruel man like Ivan if I change now. So please if you could deal with the cruel me a little longer… then I promise you once this is all over I will try and be who I used to be and make you very happy." He promised which made me smile and laugh a bit.

"Mathias, I have already told you before. I am already happy, I am happy as long as you are by my side. I don't need anything else from you…" He smiles at me and we both lean in to kiss once more. I feel my heart speed up once we were close enough I could feel our lips touch. Of course it didn't last.

Tino comes running in, "Mathias we found something you and Lukas may want to see….It seems Ivan had planned longer than we thought." By the look on his face me and Mathias could both tell it wasn't good.

I get up so Mathias could as well and we both follow Tino to whatever he wanted us to see. To our surprise he leads us to a room full of documents, they looked old but important. I slowly walk in the room as Mathias walks past me to take a look. I watch him as he reads and looks at the documents, his brows frowning a bit as he tries to make out what they say. He looked confused, I watch him glance at me then back at the papers his expression going dark again.

I frown walking over, "What's going on…?" I ask unable to figure it out.

That's when Tino looks over at me and hands me a picture, it was my mother…. I have this picture in my room. It's my mother holding me as a baby, why is a copy of that picture in this prison? Tino hands me another one, this time it's the royal family but what I didn't understand is why my mother was in this one as well. She is standing by the princess… Mathias's old lover plus the king and queen. She looked just as important as them and very young. I could see my father too, he's dressed as a knight standing guard by a door. What is going on….?

"I...I don't understand-" I saw another picture, me and Emil running around our yard as kids. Our parents watching us except our father was looking towards where it seems the camera had taken the picture and he didn't look happy. "What's going on!? Why are all these pictures here and- why are me and my brother in some of these?" I pick up another one, it was a map of the village and how to get there from here.

Before I could look at anymore, Mathias took the papers from me and tossed them in a bucket. I was going to shout at him but my eyes widen seeing him grab a match from inside a draw at the desk. He lights it and tosses it in the bucket with all the papers. "Mathias!" I shout and go to reach for them but he stops me. "Let me go, what are you doing!? They must have been important-stop!"

He growls at me, "Let them burn, I don't know how many have seen this but it's dangerous to let anyone else see them… Damn it didn't you figure it out!? The village…. Your mother… Your mother was the princess sent away to that hidden village. But it seems Ivan had found it a long time ago and was just keeping an eye on her." He pulls me away from the bucket and out of the room, I continued to struggle though. "Once she had you and your brother I assume that's when he made his move because the more royals alive the more his plan is in danger. If anymore finds out any royals have survived there would be a huge mutiny and the whole forest would go out of balance and not in a good way. Some may come to kill you, others may follow you but I can't protect you from every monster in the forest. We need to keep this hidden for now."

"That-No...Mother said she was just a farmer's daughter and father was just an ordinary man from the village…" It made no sense, I don't understand any of this! "There is no way my mother was a princess and my father a knight."

Mathias turns me around so i was now facing him. "Lukas, whether _you_ believe it or not. You are a prince, your mother was indeed a princess and since Ivan knows you are a royal he will want to kill you and your brother...No matter what. You have royal blood in you, it is why your magic is so strong. You and Emil are the last remaining of your family…" He spoke to me in a low tone, keeping quiet so no one else heard us.

I shook my head trying to push him away, I was beginning to panic. Ivan was going to kill my brother! He has him now, and all hope of him being alive was gone. If he wants us dead I doubt he would wait to kill him. I felt my eyes begin to water and tears start to fall pour down my face. "E-Emil…he can't kill him… If he wanted us dead why didn't he do it while we were kids!?"

Mathias held me against his his body, running his fingers through my hair. "He always hopes he has a chance to convince someone to join him before killing them… He doesn't know your brother has no magic so he may be trying to convince him to join and if we are lucky he's still alive… There is hope, so please don't cry anymore." He spoke softly, I could feel his gloved fingers running through my hair, His armor wasn't very comfortable to lean against but it was better than nothing.

Tino watched and sighed, "It seems only a select few were able to look at these documents so I'm assuming there are people actually looking for him. They seem old but looks like they were brought here recently. Whoever had them last wasn't very good at hiding them." He looks over at Mathias, "What do we tell the others? I am definitely telling Berwald…"

"No, you're not. The less people that know the better-" He was cut off quickly.

"He can't even talk anymore what is the problem with me telling him!? I tell him everything. I don't hide things from my lover unlike you." He growled, looking very mad. "Berwald is one of your closest friends, he helped both of us with the royal family back then. It would almost be a slap in the face to him if we kept it a secret!"

Mathias growled back glaring at him, his eyes glowing red. "Watch it… You know I am stronger than you I can take you down easily. I don't care if he talks or not, Berwald is not to know of this. Lukas is my lover and If I feel that is what will keep him safe you are to listen!" He shout at him his fangs coming out, I know that means he's really angry and it scares me.

I watch Tino step forward still glaring, his eyes bright blue his fangs out as well. "I don't have to listen to you, I know you're stronger than me because I couldn't fight you off before. remember when I was talking to Lukas back in the castle, I had lied about one thing I told him…. You hid in your room for years. We both know that isn't true you got started right away working for Ivan. That's why everyone things you betrayed the royal family, that's why we never spoke for all those years until Lukas came into your life because though we listen to you, you've never listened to us. You're telling me to keep a secret to keep Lukas safe... " I watch Tino continue to walk over to us. I was growing worried every step he took. I even felt Mathias tense up.

"Tino… I told you, what I did was because Ivan had information and I wanted to get it. I took the job because I was the only one who wouldn't have killed him on the spot!" Mathias pushes me behind him almost as if he was protecting me.

"We told you to keep Peter a secret from Ivan, no… we begged you! We had hoped you would listen but you didn't. Now my baby is somewhere possibly dead because of you. You never even told us what he did with him! You just disappeared without even a goodbye, you took Peter and then left….You know how sick he used to get so whether Ivan killed him or if he got sick it's your fault!" He goes to lunge at Mathias but was quickly stopped by Berwald who had suddenly appeared.

He shook his head holding him tightly and pulled him close, the look he was giving him obviously meant he needed to stop.

Tino whimpered and looked down, "Why do you want me to forgive him so badly!? You never even got mad at him for what he did, I don't understand!" Berwald just continued to hold on to him.

Mathias looked away, I could tell by the look on his face he was hiding something. "Mathias…" I say softly just loud enough he could hear me.

He just shook his head grabbing my hand and dragging me away before Tino realized we left. "Don't even ask about it Lukas, I'm not telling you." He said without even looking back at me.

"But… you never told me you're the one who took Peter. You can tell how upset Tino is about it. Why would you-" I gasp losing my breath as I'm pushed against a stone wall. I was looking up at an angry vampire now.

"Because I had no choice okay!? But I didn't give him to Ivan, He didn't even want him he wanted him dead! Don't even get the wrong idea either I didn't kill him. I did something worse….Once I took him, I turned him into a monster just like me then I sent him to a village far away just so Ivan couldn't find him. I didn't tell Tino because I knew he would go looking for him. Berwald knows, but he can't say anything because Ivan sent someone to cut out his tongue. So I did keep him safe but kept this from Tino so he wouldn't go searching and getting Peter and himself killed. It was too soon to tell him since Ivan was still monitoring everything. I haven't told him yet because I had just got back in touch with them….Then all this happened…. I can't deal with all of this, I'm just one person alright!?" I feel his grip tightened and it was beginning to hurt. I winced pushing him away though he didn't move and I ended up just pushing myself back against the wall.

"Then tell him now, we can't leave until nightfall anyways so tell him. Fix your relationship with him, I know Berwald wants to say it but he can't, so help them...We can't do anything now but once the sun sets we..we can go look for him and possibly Ivan may be in that direction. You said it yourself he travels a lot." He look away stepping back he didn't look like he wanted to tell him just yet but I know it's the best choice right now.

"What if he still hates me? I turned him into a vampire….He's stuck as a kid forever now he didn't get to see his kid for years because of me…" He looks in the direction where Tino and Berwald were.

"Yes, but he'll get to see him now… He'll get to have his kid back because you did what you did. I'm sure Peter understands too. No one will hate you for this, you saved him and made sure he stayed alive." I walk over and hug him, "If you just tell him, I'm sure he'll feel a lot better than not knowing what happened. Trust me…" I feel him hold onto me tightly, It's almost like he felt afraid. I've never seen him afraid before unless it consisted of me getting hurt but he usually let that out with anger.

"...Come with me when I tell him then?" He asks softly, slowly letting me go.

I smile, "Of course, anything for you." I hold his hand and we begin to walk back over to Tino and Berwald.

Once Tino sensed Mathias was here he glared at him, still clinging to Berwald. "What do you want now?" He sneered.

Mathias cringed then sighed looking down, "Listen...there's… there's something I have to tell you. I've kept it hidden for years." I gently squeeze his hand for comfort. I watch him gain some confidence back. "Peter… he's alive. He's in a small village outside Ivan's sight. I made sure of it. But there's a catch….I wasn't thinking and I didn't know how long it would be until you could see him so, I...Turned him in to one of us." He stood there silently waiting for Tino's reaction.

Tino looked shocked, a whole bunch of emotions flowing through him all at once. Happiness, relief, worry, sadness, and excitement. I'm sure he couldn't wait to see his kid, but I'm sure since it's been so long he's different. He's probably not as happy with the fact he's a vampire now as well considering they all hate being one. Tino wipes his eyes and looks over at Berwald smiling a bit. After that I could tell it will all be okay, he wasn't mad or upset he looked happy and relieved now. I glance at Mathias to see how he was doing, he looked relieved as well. I'm sure even though he won't say it, he didn't want to lose his closest friends. I lean over and kiss him on the lips, which he gladly returns the kiss.

Tino sighs, breaking the silence. "You're going to show us where this village is once we leave, because I'm getting my baby back." He sounded very serious which doesn't fit the small vampire.

Mathias nods, "I will, don't worry. Ivan may be in that direction anyways just like Lukas said. So it'll be a good idea to head in a different direction. For now we should get some sleep, I'm sure everyone is tired."

Tino smirks, "You just want to get away from me, you know the three of us don't have to sleep…" He crossed his arms.

Mathias chuckles, "You caught me, but Lukas does have to sleep so I need to find him a bed." I gasp when he suddenly picks me up.

"I can walk on my own!" I shout at him, but he just laughs at me and starts carrying me away.

I huff crossing my arms, "I'm not going to bed yet… I'm not tired, I've slept enough." I try fighting with him.

He shook his head, "Don't be stubborn, you need your sleep. We'll be traveling a lot tomorrow." He argued back.

I look up at him, "Fine, one condition… let's do what we did back in the castle…" I smile a bit knowing I had him cornered.

"No." He said plainly and kept walking… Guess i didn't have him cornered.

"But you said it brings us closer… I want to be close to you again.." I frown, it almost was like he didn't want to do it with me again… did he not like it?

"We are close, but you couldn't handle it last time so I'm not doing it again." He placed me down on a small bed back in the room we were in before.

"I can handle it this time, can we please just try? We aren't as close as you think… you still have that wall up, even if you don't realize it." I sit up on the bed staring at him.

He looks away, "You know I'm sorry I'm not how you imagined me to be, I have issues but I was hoping you wouldn't mind considering you've said before It takes time for me to change." He gathers up his stuff I'm assuming he's leaving and not sleeping with me tonight.

"Mathias wait! I didn't mean it like that I just- I want to be close with you…. I want you to feel like you can be yourself around me. You're always so guarded even if we are alone, I'm not going to leave you nor would I do anything to hurt you… When I let you drink from me I finally felt like you let me in for the first time and I want that again… Don't you…?" I grab his arm but he looks away.

"Get some sleep… I'll think about it…" He mumbled pulling his arm away. "I'll be keeping guard outside in case this place isn't abandoned and someone comes."

I frown putting my hand down and didn't bother arguing, "...Alright.." I watch him sigh and start walking out of the room.

"Sleep well, I'll check on you in a few hours." He grabs his axe and finally leaves the room, leaving me feeling miserable.

I huff and climbed in to the bed and chose to just do what he said and go to sleep. It took me a while but around maybe midnight I managed to finally fall asleep, I hope he doesn't think this argument is over because I'll be asking him about it again tomorrow.

 ** _I feel like this wasn't as good as I could have made it, Ugh sorry it's late. I did get it posted though so ha! Anyways, What do you think? Hope you enjoyed it. ^^ Lot of interesting stuff huh? I'll have the next chapter posted on Friday. It won't be late this time!_**


	18. Chapter 14

"Come on, it's time to get moving! We don't have much time to waste. We have to make sure we get as far as we can before the sun rises." Mathias shouts at everyone as he pulls me out of the prison and outside to the horses.

I look back seeing Arthur sadly glancing back at the Prison, his eyes were red and his face was a mess. He must have been crying all night, I could see Alfred's eyes were red too but he didn't seem as noticeable as Arthur. I sigh as I try my best to keep up with Mathias, Tino was moving around everywhere going just as fast as Mathias was. He was probably just excited considering he will see his son soon, hopefully. I look up at the sky and saw the moon and stars, it was a beautiful night that's for sure. I wonder if Emil can see what I'm seeing…. I was snapped out of my thoughts when Mathias picked me up and put me on the horse. Right away he climbs on after me. I watch everyone else get on their horses and finally we start heading out. Everyone was quiet though, and not because we are supposed to, it's because of all that happened. Arthur looked miserable, so did Alfred but he seemed to be trying to hold back and stay strong for Arthur. Tino must be nervous and worried Peter may not be in the village.

"Mathias… you sure Peter is there?" I ask glancing back at him, hair getting in my face since it's a bit windy.

He sighs, "I'm not sure, honestly it was years ago. I don't know what he's done since then…" He kisses me softly. "But we'll find out, and if he isn't there we'll keep looking."

Lukas nods, "Yeah, Alright… I really hope he is there though, for Tino's sake. We've already have enough stuff happen."

He nods in agreement though I could see something was still bothering him. He remains quiet for a bit though until he finally speaks up. "...I want you to forget what you saw in that prison okay? Like those pictures never existed. There are dangerous people I'm assuming out here looking for you and I don't want you getting hurt. So the less we speak of it the better. Only reason I say it now is so you don't talk about it later."

I glance back at him again, "Alright… I will. I um just… one thing. Does that mean, you were engaged to my aunt…?"

Mathias blinked and suddenly the horse stopped, "Lukas… Never say it that way again.." He makes the horse move again.

I laugh a bit, "It does sound strange, I suppose I figured out your type. You like royals huh?"

"Lukas…" He said in a warning tone.

"...I just realized, you can't order me around. You said you'd serve the royal family and protect them. So I can order you around but you can't order me." I smile mischievously, "Mathias…"

He growls glaring at me, "Don't even think about it, I swear to god Lukas you'll regret it. My oath does not apply to that." His eyes turn red, "And if you even try to use your power against me I won't forgive you."

I look away, "I was just joking… I wouldn't force you to do it if you really don't want to.." I mumble now facing away from him.

He just remained quiet and kept going, It was a very quiet journey down the dirt path. No one was in a good mood at the moment, so it makes sense. I glance at a few things here and there just to see where we may be but I have no idea considering I've never been in the forest since recently. It all kind of just looks the same to me if I'm being honest. I jump a bit hearing the horse let out a loud whine then stop. I hear Mathias groan, and jump off the horse.

"Alright, Take a break the horses are tired and need to drink and eat." I slowly climb off the horse as he speaks.

Where we stopped was very pretty, it was a small lake. Though I wasn't going anywhere near it, not after what had happened before. I sit by the horses and watch everyone else relax, Alfred carrying Arthur around, Tino relaxing with Berwald drinking blood from some meat they packed. Mathias had disappeared probably to eat as well but he doesn't like me seeing him. I remember the first time I did it was a bit frightening so now I don't even go looking for him when he says he's going out to eat because I don't want to see that again. I sigh shutting my eyes and leaning back against a rock, it wasn't the most comfortable but it'll do. As I lay there relaxing I hear some leaves rustle, probably the wind. I put my hood over my head to block the wind and cover my eyes.

I hear more leaves rustling, making me roll my eyes. "Mathias is that you? It's not funny you're not scaring me." I look around but Mathias was nowhere to be seen. "What the…" I slowly get up as I continue to glance around.

I see Tino's eyes turn bright blue and Berwald's turn bright red. "Lukas get over here now, please…" He said calmly but I could hear the urgency in his voice so I go to quickly make my way over.

I was almost there Tino was reaching for me until someone grabbed the back of me, I assume it was Mathias but when I turn around I see another man with a mask over his face. His eyes were bright yellow, I gasp and try to get away, I hear Tino growling and Berwald was glaring at him that was obvious. The man who had me, pulls me away even more and I see him lift his mask. He speaks his voice low and loud.

"Well, look what we got here…. Not many humans go this far in the forest. Especially good looking ones like you." He purred, I could feel his hot breath on my skin.

"Let me go…" I tell him as I continue to struggle, hating my voice cracked a bit. I was scared I'll admit that.

"Aww, don't be so scared… I'll take really good care of you." I gasp seeing he had fangs. He's a vampire! "Don't tell me they've already claimed you ask a snack?"

"I'm not their snack, let me go!" He grins, which worried me even more.

"Great then you're fair game!" I feel him pull the collar of my shirt down a bit, his fangs gently pressed against my neck. "I'll just…. Have a little fun with you before I actually drink my fill.

He isn't going to do what I think he is...is he!? I know if I struggle now his fangs are guaranteed to dig in to my neck and I don't want that. I bite my lip glancing around, where was Mathias!? I could feel him pressing his fangs down, I shut my eyes preparing for him to start but nothing came. I slowly open my eyes seeing of course, he always has to make a dramatic entrance. Mathias. He had the other vampire by the neck and had him lifted off the ground. He looked mad, really mad.

"How dare you put your hands on him!?" He growled, his fangs out and eyes bright red. He looked furious. "He's mine, got it? I don't want your filthy hands touching him. I swear I'll rip your head off-"

"Hey!" We all look over to see who had just shouted, I see a smaller looking person with a mask as well. By the way Mathias was growling it must be another vampire.

The smaller man walks towards us without any fear at all, it seems he froze seeing us which was strange. But mathias didn't care. "What the hell do you want? If you don't leave now I'll kill you and your friend got it?"

The smaller one huffed and walked over to Mathias like it was no big deal, "No you won't, now you're going to set him down. Now." He ordered.

Mathias stared at him as if he was insane, "Are you serious? Who are you giving me orders!?" He squeezes the guy's neck some more, cutting off his air supply. "Because I won't follow them."

"Not even if they come from me?" I blink watching as the guy took his mask off, wait it was a kid! He looked about twelve or thirteen. He had blonde hair and blue eyes, and was smiling looking almost amused.

I glance over at Mathias, he had actually dropped the guy and looked completely shocked. I have no idea what was going on. Well, actually I had no idea until I see Tino run over faster than I've ever seen him run before and pick the kid up hugging him as he cried. He was holding him so tightly I was afraid he'd snap him in half.

"My baby… I can't believe it I have my baby back…" He spoke softly as he held him close and kissed the top of his head.

I watch Peter hug back smiling brightly, "I missed you too, mom…" I could see a few tears fall from Peter's eyes as well.

I watch Berwald slowly make his way over smiling at the two, He ruffles the kids hair. Peter looks up at him grinning even more shouting dad. He hugged him tightly as well, clinging to him almost like he was in a tree, yes Berwald is that tall. The guy from earlier was getting up, coughing a bit. He glared at Mathias who just glared back.

"I suggest you just stay there before I actually do kill you, you're just lucky your friend was there to save you.." Mathias grabbed me and pulled me right beside him and away from that other guy.

I look up at him smiling, "Thank you for saving me...again…"

He chuckles, "Of course, now come on come meet Peter." Once the family had calmed down and reunited Mathias walked me over to introduce me.

Peter grins bowing, "Hello your highness, I'm Peter. Pleasure to meet you. I'm an assassin but Don't worry not after you. Me and my friend over there basically torment Ivan and attack his minions and take what we can from him."

I blink holding my hand out to shake his, how did he know I was a royal? "Hello, nice to meet you but-"

"How did I know of your blood line? Well, Ivan had called all assassins in this area to go searching for you. Many are after you, some had disagreed and are actually searching to protect you. Other's just don't care and have no interest in getting involved. Oh speaking of that…" He grabs a rock and threw it at his friend. "What did I tell you about looking before you eat!?"

His friend was now shocked realizing what he had almost done, he rubbed his head where the rock hit him and got on his knees looking at the ground, "I-I'm very sorry…."

I smile a bit, "It's fine really, no harm done." I go to help him up but Mathias stops me growling a bit. I sigh and stay put.

Peter laughs, "So, from what I have heard… you're going after Ivan directly? I heard you were heading this way so… I left the village me and this fool over there protect. I wanted to see if it was really you and if it was in fact true."

Tino nods still hugging Peter, "It's true, my gosh you've grown so much…. Well not physically but… mentally and emotionally. Oh! How's your health are you doing okay?"

Peter nods smiling some more, "Yes mom, I'm fine. Once Mathias changed me into a vampire all my health issues went away. Yeah I've grown quite a bit… had to in order to keep surviving. I hoped to see you again…"

Tino wipes his eyes, "I did too, I didn't stop looking for you baby…. Finally once Mathias had told me about where you were I demanded we head that way."

Peter nods, "But sadly if you were also looking for Ivan, you missed him. He was here a few weeks ago… He's long gone by now. Though the damage he did is still here…" His eyes flashed purple for a second then back to normal.

Peter's friend sighed walking over and stood next to Peter, "Dude, we did all we could but there was no way of saving everyone in the village…"

Peter looked away, "I know…" My eyes widen, he had the same look Mathias always does. I didn't want to see that on Peter's face as well. I hate that look on anyone. He seemed to have quickly snapped out of it though. "Anyways… Come to the village you can rest there for a while. I can tell you're all tired."

I glance at Mathias hoping he'd say yes, I really was tired. I watch him sigh then reluctantly agree which made me smile. I kiss him and walk over to peter. "Show us the way then."

Peter nods and turns around heading down a leaf path, Tino following close behind as he drags Berwald with him. I drag mathias with me smiling as I look back at him. Alfred still carrying Arthur. It didn't take long, we make it to a very small village though it seems many people are cleaning up stuff around the area. I glance at Mathias wondering what was going on, They had stuff wrapped up and it took two people to carry whatever they are getting rid of.

Mathias sighs holding me close as we walk, "Bodies, it seems Ivan's damage he was talking about was killing half the village for not obeying him. Don't look, I know how much this usually upsets you."

I quickly look down, from what I had already saw it was a lot of bodies then. Ivan did all this? I see Peter looking down almost ashamed, so was his friend. "Sorry about this, Ivan hit us hard…" Peter spoke quietly.

Tino hugs him tightly, "It's alright baby, you tried your best that's all we could ask for. Ivan is very powerful you can't expect to beat him easily."

"I know… but still… I promised to protect these people. They raised me and kept me safe all these years and I couldn't do the same for them." He shook his head, "Whatever, okay… here you can sleep in these small tents. I have to go help the other's clean up…"

Tino quickly looked over at him, "Let me help, we need to catch up anyways. Your father can come too."

Peter nods, "Alright, this way." He grabs Tino's hand and leads him to where they need to go, Berwald following from behind.

I put my hood over my head, "It...It seems the deeper in to the forest we go the worse the situation is… and It's horrible."

Mathias nods helping me in to the tent, "Yes, it is. That is why I want to make the forest safe for you and save your brother. I don't want you going through anymore of this. You don't deserve it."

I lean against him clinging to him, "Mathias please….I know you keep saying no but I want to be distracted. I don't want to feel like this anymore. Just for a little bit…" I hide my face against his chest ignoring the coldness of the armor he was wearing.

He sighs running his gloved hand through my hair and kissed me, "...Alright, just one more time to see if you can handle it."

I smile resting my head against his head, I hear him sigh and pull me closer so I could feel his lips against my neck making he shiver a bit. "I-I can handle it…" I shut my eyes tilting my head a bit to give him better access.

I can feel mathias's fangs against my neck now, i bite my lip feeling him press down then just as quickly he begins sucking my blood. I gasp pressing against him, gripping his shoulders tightly, I forgot how it made me feel. I shut my eyes even tighter as I feel that burning sensation again, meaning he must be putting his poison inside me. I can feel my head already spinning, I almost felt dizzy. Finally he pulls away though panting a bit, his eyes were bright red but he wasn't angry. I pant as I stare into his eyes, my whole body felt warm even though it was freezing outside.

"Are you alright?" he asks softly as he quickly leans over to lick up the rest of the blood dripping from the bite mark.

I nod leaning against him, "I-I'm fine… It just feels strange.." I shiver feeling his breath against my neck still.

"You have no idea how much I love doing this to you, I just don't want it to be too much for you." I feel his hand trailing down my thigh as he softly kissing along my neck.

"I-It feels better than last time...You added less I'm guessing." my whole body was trembling but I didn't care I loved it, I loved how close we were right now.

"Yeah, I think I did too much last time…seems I was right." I slowly shut my eyes enjoying all the small touches from him, whether he was kissing me or just using his hands it felt nice. He couldn't keep his hands off me since he bit me. I love it.

"How long does this last?" I ask after I kiss him.

"As long as I want, I could add more to your body or take it away. But we can't do this for long… you need rest." I can see him leaning forward ready to drink my blood again but I wasn't ready.

"w-wait… just a little longer? You're never like this unless you drink from me. I-its it's almost like you avoid touching me sometimes... " He grabs my arm keeping me from moving away.

"Lukas, I can't constantly touch you all the time. I have to stay on guard, to keep you safe. If I get distracted at least a little it could mean the death of you….I rather not touch you for days then have you dead because I got distracted." Without warning I feel him dig his fangs into to my neck. I wince, he was being a little too rough.

Once he pulled away I felt the warm feeling leave me as well. I pant leaning against him, he just kisses the top of my head. "I'm sorry….once ivan is gone we can do this longer, as long as you wish." He spoke softly.

"promise? Promise you'll do this more often…" I slowly look up at him.

He chuckles, "Yes, I promise...anything for you."

I smile, "Good." I lean against him again and sigh. "So...I know I should rest but all this excitement going on I can't sleep, I am also a bit scared being so deep in the forest…." I admit, holding on to him tightly.

He sighs, "Don't worry….I will protect you, I have so far haven't I?" he smiles softly as he looks down at me.

I nod, "Yeah… I guess i still worry though. You think maybe you can tell me more about yourself, or even vampires… I used to read to fall asleep that may help." I hear him laugh a bit.

"Very well….I'll tell you a bit about vampires. You see, every vampire has a special power they can use. Mine, is strength. I am stronger than an average vampire, Tino's is speed. You remember how quickly he's able to move?"

I nod shutting my eyes as I start to drift off. "yeah...that was a bit scary as well."

He nods, "Yes, it was… anyways, Berwald is able to hear almost anything, his hearing has gotten us out of a lot of trouble many times. He warns us with signs since he can not speak."

I yawn softly as I listen to him speak, I kind of listen to how his voice sounds as he grows quieter seeing me start to fall asleep.

"Peter can read minds….that much is obvious, he is able to finish sentences before you even say them out loud." he muttered as if speaking to himself.

"what do you think Peter's friend has…?" I ask as Mathias lays down with me, holding me close.

"I'm not sure, but I don't trust him to be honest….something about him tells me to keep away. Usually when I get that feeling I'm right." I guess I was exhausted because the more he spoke the quicker i started falling asleep. I can even understand what he's saying right now.

"love you…" was the last thing I said before falling asleep. I am sure he just laughed finding it amusing.


	19. Sorry!

_**Sorry it took so long to update...ugh I'll have to write and update from my phone for a while because my laptop hates me. I've also had some personal issues that got in the way... dont worry I'm still working on the story It will just take a bit for each chapter.**_


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